Letter from the Executive Director

As I write this article I’m in the midst of my third week as the ENA’s Executive Director. The learning curve has been steep, with many new people to meet, processes to learn, and issues to face. However, even after this very short period of time, I can say with confidence that I am proud to be associated with this organization. The ENA has accomplished a great deal within its relatively short history. We offer a wide variety of programs and services to benefit emergency department nurses, the health care community, and the general public - delivered by a talented staff and overseen by an active core of volunteers on the Board and various committees.

Much of my time and focus over the first three to six months will be directed towards listening to and learning from the staff; Board members and other ENA volunteer leaders; current and potential corporate sponsors; state and local chapters; and individual members. In addition to telephone and in-person dialogues with these individuals, I will facilitate a process of benchmarking the ENA’s governance practices and operations vis-à-vis similar associations and societies. A final piece of data gathering involves initiating conversations with my counterparts at selected associations with whom the ENA has identified as priority relationships to learn best practices from their experiences.

All of these actions mirror what I have previously done with many other associations while serving as a consultant. Specifically, various organizations engaged me to take a top-to-bottom look at their operations and identify improvement opportunities. I never knew going into such an assignment what I would find, but gradually, over time, a set of issues and recommendations inevitably came to light - even in what initially appeared to be the best-run organizations. With recommendations in hand, these organizations were then positioned for implementation, and taking member service and operational efficiencies to the next level.

Hopefully the same will hold true at the ENA. Although I do not view this as a "broken" organization that needs to be fixed, I firmly believe that there are numerous improvement opportunities in terms of the services we offer and deliver to members, and the way we operate at the Board, committee, and staff levels. I look forward to working with all of you to identify and prioritize these opportunities.

Even more exciting is the opportunity to participate in facilitating change that leads to improvements at the ENA. Unfortunately, many of my consulting clients lacked the financial resources to engage my services beyond conducting an organizational assessment. Although I monitored their progress from afar, it was frustrating to not see recommendations through to their implementation. In my new role at the ENA, my hope and expectation is that I will be around for the long haul to participate in both the frustrations and joys associated with the change process.

Please help me and the ENA by sharing your concerns and improvement ideas with our volunteer leaders, or with me personally. It is only by working together that can we take ENA to new heights.

ENA members can reach David Westman at 800/900-9659 ext. 4090, or via e-mail at dwestman@ena.org.