North Carolina ENA State Council
State Council-Chapter Government Affairs Award
North Carolina ENA State Council
Recognizes an ENA State Council or Chapter for outstanding efforts to increase member involvement in government affairs and advance public policy supporting nursing, safety, health care and injury prevention issues.
The North Carolina ENA State Council has made government advocacy a priority, viewing it as a leading indicator of member engagement, recruitment and retention.
In 2023, the council financially supported six members to attend Day on the Hill, twice the number who attended in 2022. Those members returned with valuable training for advocating on a national stage, knowledge they could also apply at the state level.
The council co-sponsored a Nurses Night at the Legislature event, sending 27 nurses to speak with their legislators, also more than double the number who participated the prior year. They shared personal stories to help lawmakers understand issues important to emergency nurses, including workplace violence, full practice authority for advanced practice nurses, access to mental health care for both patients and nurses, ED overcrowding and more.
ENA North Carolina’s government affairs team members use several monitoring tools to track legislative progress and identify key individuals who can be contacted to garner support. They stay closely aligned with the ENA Government Relations team as they advocate for issues that are part of the association’s public policy agenda. As nurses working in EDs around the state they can identify new issues as they arise.