“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
― Barack Obama
On October 26th 2016, the membership of TTRNA came out in their numbers to usher in a new dawn in nursing. It must be made known however, that this change did not happen overnight, but rather it was the culmination of decades of inadequate representation. The collective will of a few who decided that they will no longer complain about the myriad of issues that currently plague nursing personnel, but rather decided to place their energy, time, and resources, to take the TTRNA from its slumber. For they understand that, “Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved - WJB.”
Nursing personnel have decided to give the TTRNA, an opportunity to be reborn and in so doing, rebrand itself and become more member focus driven in its actions. However, I must also beseech you the members, that for the executive to achieve the lofty goals that they have set for themselves, goals that have been formulated through listening to the concerns of nursing personnel over a decade, goals that will put our association at the forefront of the national landscape, it will require your full participation.
So from the onset, I request members to become more active in your association. Get your colleagues to join, attend branch meetings, ask questions and offer suggestions to your branch executive, participate in upcoming TTRNA seminars, workshops, and conferences, and yes, if the need unfortunately arises, support any demonstration called for to press our issues on the agenda. Some of these issues may or may not seem important to you initially but it is our responsibility to also educate our members to the ramifications of these decisions that may gravely affect the nursing profession for years to come. Some of the issues that need our immediate attention include the changes being made to the NURSING PERSONNEL REGULATIONS, inadequate staffing levels, and attaining majority union status.
I urge you, to stop seeing yourself just as employees in the Health sector, but rather as stakeholders and protagonist in health sector reform. As the new executive rolls out our plan over the coming days, and you become more aware that it is no longer business as usual, remember, you have your part to play. Let’s go far, together…
