The start of Nevada’s road to NSNA Constituency:

From the NSNA archives…………

In the weeks prior to June 1, 1958, the Nevada Student Nurses’ Association submitted its bylaws for review and approval by the National Student Nurses’ Association (NSNA) with a request for status as an active constituent of the NSNA. The Nevada bylaws were approved and recommendations were made by the 1957-58 NSNA Board of Directors to present the Nevada association to the NSNA House of Delegates in June, 1958 for approval as a constituent member of the organization. The Student Nurses’ Association of Nevada was approved as an NSNA state constituent at the 1958 NSNA Convention House of Delegates (the NV membership consisting of the first class of students of the Orvis School of Nursing, at the University of Nevada.) The NSNA at that time, with this inclusion of Nevada, reached 50 constituents in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Hawaii. Membership as of August 1, 1958 was 76,713 members and as of November 1, 1958 national membership in NSNA rose to 77,387.

Nevada nursing students can be proud of the NSNA leaders from our state that helped lead students through those early years. Especially Nancy Johnson (a student leader from Orvis School of Nursing, the University of Nevada in Reno) who not only led on the state level but also rose to national office when she was elected NSNA President for 1965-66.

Nancy Johnson Sorenson, during her time as NSNA President, along with her fellow NSNA Board members recommended that the 1966 House of Delegates pass a resolution for NSNA to launch a nationwide project “to involve members of minority groups to prepare for a career in professional nursing.” This resolution was especially poignant for future nursing students from Mississippi, as a guest speaker in the HOD pointed out (speaking PRO to the issue) at the 1966 NSNA Convention.

“This is really a good time for this to happen at National because for the first time we in Mississippi can really work on this. We haven’t had the schools in our state open to negroes until now. And this year we will have admissions. Negroes can now be admitted to all three types of our schools: the baccalaureate, the associate degree, and the diploma….So let’s adopt it!” The adoption of this resolution establishing the NSNA project to expand diversity in nursing was just the beginning of ongoing efforts in Breakthrough to Nursing (BTN). In a follow-up editorial in the 1966 NSNA Newsletter, the corresponding secretary of NSNA at that time wrote: “The real fruits will be apparent in future years when we will have laid a foundation for equal, balanced and complete membership including those who were given a chance to become part of nursing because of what we are doing now.” Johnson, N. (1966) Recruitment of minority groups: A priority for NSNA. Nursing Outlook, 14, 4, p 29-30.

At some point the State organization lapsed. However, in 2008 a group of students from Western Nevada College in Carson City, Great Basin College in Elko, NV, and the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas decided to revive the state association. In February, 2009, the first election in years set a new board of directors for the state of Nevada. Nevada, once again, became an official NSNA contigent!