About | Board of Directors | Our History | Archiving Our History

About the Delaware Nurses Association

Vision, Mission, Goals

Vision: The Delaware Nurses Association is dedicated to serving its membership through identifying, developing, and promoting the profession of nursing as an art and science.

Mission: The Delaware Nurses Association represents the interest of professional nurses in the state of Delaware. The Delaware Nurses Association also advocates for health care issues through legislative channels and regulatory activity, resulting in positive outcomes for all Delawareans.

Goals: The Delaware Nurses Association will work to

1. Promote high standards of nursing practice, nursing education, and nursing research.
2. Strengthen the voice of nursing through membership.
3. Promote educational opportunities for nurses.
4. Establish collaborative relationships with consumers, health professional and other advocacy organizations.
5. Foster and safeguard the interests of health care consumers and nurses in the legislative, regulatory, and political arena.
6. Increase consumer understanding of the nursing profession.
7. Support recruitment of individuals into the nursing profession.
8. Represent the voice of Delaware nurses in the national arena.

Bylaws

Download the current bylaws.

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Board of Directors

November 2006-2008

Penelope Seiple, RN, MSN, CNA BC, CHE officially took office as the President of the Delaware Nurses Association for a two-year term at the 2006 DNA Fall Conference.

A nurse since 1973, Ms. Seiple has worked in many facets of nursing from a staff nurse to director at Christiana Care Health Services. Currently, she is the Vice-President of Patient Care Services at the Wilmington campus.

Ms. Seiple graduated with a nursing diploma from the Nursing School of Wilmington, a BSN from Wilmington College, and an MSN from the University of Delaware. She served as an RN member and Vice-President of the Delaware Board of Nursing (1996-1998), DNA Delegate to the ANA House of Delegates (2006) and is a diplomate of the American College of Health Care Executives.

Ad Hoc Committee

Environmental Ad-Hoc Committee: Nurses Healing Our Planet (NHOP)
Mission: To improve the health of Delawareans through advocating for a cleaner environment in which to live, work and play.
Michelle Lauer, RN, BSN, BC, Chair

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DNA Needs You!

The benefits of being a DNA Leader

The benefits of being a DNA leader can be both personal and professional, and can provide you with skills that can be applied to many areas of your life. Here are just a few to think about:

• Increase your opportunities to mentor, to be mentored, to gain peer recognition and to share your expertise and ideas;
• Enhance your development as an individual and as a professional through strengthened communication and organizational skills;
• Be on the cutting edge of a new and better health care for our state; and
• Develop marketable campaign skills while articulating your views, engaging with a diverse membership and speaking publicly.

We know you have the ability to be a leader; what better way to serve your profession than to become active in your state nurses association. The Delaware Nurses Association (DNA) represents nurses and nursing in Delaware through action, service, education and leadership.

The Delaware Nurses Association continues to evolve by offering state-only membership (2008) and encouraging specialty nurse organizations to subscribe to the new DNA Organizational Affiliate program (2008). Through collaborative efforts, nurses in our state will have a greater voice in the direction of healthcare and nursing in our state. Now is the time to get involved your Association!

Do I qualify?

To qualify for a position on the Board of Directors, you must be DNA member in good standing and a member for at least a year.

What will be expected of me?

DNA expects the best from its leaders just as you have the right to expect the best from DNA. As a Delaware Nurses Association leader, you will:

• Provide strategic direction for the association through participation in meetings, conference calls and electronic communications; 
• Prepare for each meeting and conference call by reviewing materials ahead of time;
• Review mailings and respond to items requiring action between meetings;
• Be available to serve on subcommittees;
• Present reports or serve as a spokesperson for media-related activities under the direction of the president and DNA staff;
• Maintain your professional and personal integrity in your workplace and community as you will represent DNA.

Your time commitment to the Association will depend upon the position to which you are elected. You may need to request your employer’s support for the time commitment you make. Most employers will view your leadership role as a benefit to them — through your increased knowledge and distinction as a DNA leader.

Board of Directors Elected Position Descriptions	November 2008 Election	Committee Descriptions
President President Elect Treasurer Secretary Delegate Nominating Committee Member	Review the election process and the election timetable for details on the DNA election process and dates. Open positions for 2008 Election: Three ANA at-large alternates Treasurer Three members of the nominating committee, one from each county Consent to Run form	Professional Development Continuing Education APN Council Legislative Communications Nominating (elected positions) The DNA welcomes and needs member participation on each committee. Please complete a committee form and send to the DNA office.

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Our History

Excerpts from “A Topical History of the Delaware Nurses Association-1911-1981”

by Eleanor Jester and Sara Reed

The first meeting of the Delaware State Association of Graduate Nurses was held at the home of Mrs. Estelle Speakman on April 18, 1911 with 15 members present. These members paid an initiation fee of $1.00 and annual dues of $0.50.

From the initial meeting there had been interest in promoting recognition of the professional nurses through licensure and reciprocity. Earlier in 1909 the Board of Examiners of Graduate Nurses was established by Legislation with one of its provisions being that the Nurses Association should recommend both physicians and the nurses for appointment to the Board of Examiners of Graduate Nurses. In 1912 after a lengthy consideration a constitution and bylaws was adopted-listing the following purposes:

• to promote, elevate and maintain the professional and educational advancement of nurses in every proper way
• to elevate the standard of nursing education
• to establish and maintain a code of ethics among nurses, to distribute relief among such nurses as may become ill, disabled or destitute
• to disseminate information on the subject of nursing by publication in official periodicals or otherwise
• to bring into communication with each other various nurses and associations and federations of nurses and for this purpose may establish and maintain suitable buildings both within and without the state of Delaware
• to establish, so far as may be legally done, reciprocity between the same.

The Association continued to display its commitment to beneficial nursing change by appointing a legislative committee (which subsequently became one of the most active and important committees of the association) to go to Dover to speak to the reciprocity clause which would permit nurses in other states to obtain a license in Delaware, this legislation was signed into law in 1913.

In 1916, the association accepted an invitation to become a part of the American Nurses Association. The organization also became a member of the State Federation of Women’s Clubs, as a means of stimulating the interest of the public in the association. This membership was maintained until 1954.

In 1917 two delegates and two alternates were appointed to attend the ANA Convention in Philadelphia. By 1918 there were 215 registered nurses in Delaware.

In 1919 the association was incorporated and eventually adopted a Constitution and bylaws that is much like the present in the areas of duties of officers, committees and order of business.

Key dates

The Delaware Nurses Association was:

• Organized April 18, 1911
• Became part of the American Nurses Association in 1916
• Incorporated in Delaware April 28, 1919 at the cost of $23.75
• Granted non-profit status as a 501 (c) (6) by the Internal Revenue Service June 1958
• Became a charter member of the Center for American Nurses 2004

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Past-Presidents of the Delaware Nurses Association

1997-1998 Karen Morin, RN, BSN

1998-2000 Evelyn Hayes, PhD, RN, FNP-CS

2000-2002 Moonyeen “Kloppy” Klopfenstein, MS, RN, IBCLC, CPUR

2002-2004 Nancy Rubino, EdD, RNC

2004-2006 Patricia Winston, MS, RN, CHE

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Archiving Our History

To safeguard the Association’s history, the Historical Society of Delaware was selected as the archival repository for the historical documents, pictures, artifacts, and board minutes belonging to the Delaware Nurse Association. The Society will catalogue and care for the records according to professional standards and are available for the public to research. The Historical Society is located at 505 Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware. To contact them directly, please call (302) 655-7161.

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Last modified: 8/7/08