Saturday, October 18th was a momentous day for LGBTQ nurses!  The American Academy of Nursing LGBTQ Expert Panel (established in 2012) met at 8 am, with a significant number of GLMA Nursing Section members present!  In addition, Ed Craft, GLMA VP for External Affairs and Chief Nursing Cheerleader, and Emily Kane-Lee, GLMA staff member

Selfie – Laura and Peggy

representing Executive Director Hector Vargas, also joined the meeting to indicate GLMA’s support for a cooperative working relationship between our two organizations! I wish I had more photos to share .. the 2 posted here were selfies with Laura and with Sarah!

After the Expert Panel meeting, GLMA Nursing Section leaders met with Emily

Selfie – Sarah and Peggy

and Ed to follow through on a number of organizational issues. The GLMA Section folks present were Mary Foley, Chair; Laura Hein and Sarah Fogel, GLMA Board members and new inductees in the Academy! I was there as the web manager and because of my role in the creation of the GLMA Nursing Section.

We had a wonderful discussion, dominated by not only a spirit, but explicit intent and actions to assure a positive and constructive ongoing relationship between the Section leadership and the GLMA Board and staff, as well as ongoing collaborative relationships with the Academy Expert Panel.  Here are the “big” specific topics we focused on:

• The transition from our “Commitment to Join” process for our Section, to the formal and official process to join the GLMA nursing section!  Emily has this process well underway and described how this will work – the system will be ready in the next 1 to 2 weeks – so stay tuned for details on this coming soon!
• A process to assure coordination and communication with the GLMA staff and board.  Emily and Ed agreed that the great work of our Workgroups needs to move ofrward with the details of specific projects worked out internally.  But when we get to the point of communication and interactions with other nursing organizations and institutions as representatives of the GLMA Nursing Section, we will establish a process to inform GLMA staff and seek their go-ahead for any new initiatives.  Emily will develop a format for letters and emails from the Nursing Section to any external group, and we will communicate to all Workgroup leaders the guidelines for moving forward with this kind of initiative.
• Follow-up on the topic of financial support for the Section that we had discussed during the Academy LGBT Expert Panel meeting. Members of the Expert Panel suggested the possibility of Expert Panel members seeking financial support for student members of the GLMA Nursing Section for attendance at the annual GLMA Nursing Summit and conference.
• Exploring the possibility of having a liaison between the GLMA Nursing Section and the Academy Expert Panel – someone who is an active member of both organizations and who can work to assure ongoing cooperation and mutual support between the two groups.

Overall, we established a firm foundation for working together, not only within the GLMA organization, but for collaboration between GLMA and the Academy!  So stay tuned — I am sure much more will come in the days and weeks to come!