Why I answered the APNA Call for Nominations
Evelyn Perkins was Secretary of the APNA Board of Directors from 2020-2023. She explains why she answered the APNA Call for Nominations to join the Board of Directors – and why you should, too.
After 44 years of an extremely rewarding career as a psychiatric nurse, the reality of my retirement loomed nearer and nearer. The thought of my departure triggered three major fears: loss of professional identity, loss of colleagues, and loss of access to new evidence-based knowledge.
My experience as a Board member helped me to continue to be enthusiastically engaged in psychiatric nursing.
These fears were the driving force behind my decision to take the chance to be elected to APNA’s national Board of Directors. My three-year term as Secretary not only erased my fears, but also helped me reach my stage of identity achievement; connected me with colleagues I value as life-long professional and personal friends; and increased my access to national and international psychiatric nursing standards, practices, education, and engagement.
Even after my tenure on the Board came to an end, I continue to stay engaged in projects and committees of interest to me.
I recommend that psychiatric nurses seeking continuing personal and professional growth investigate opportunities in leadership on the national APNA Board of Directors.
Published March 2024
>>> Answer the Call!
The APNA National Call for Nominations is open through Monday, April 8. The APNA Nominating Committee invites you to put forward your name for these national leadership positions: President-Elect; Treasurer; Member-at-Large; and 2025 APNA Nominating Committee Member.
Submit your name today: Email Executive Director Lisa Nguyen at inform@apna.org
About APNA: The American Psychiatric Nurses Association is a national professional membership organization committed to the practice of psychiatric-mental health nursing and wellness promotion, prevention of mental health problems, and the care and treatment of persons with psychiatric disorders. APNA’s membership is inclusive of all psychiatric-mental health registered nurses including associate degree, baccalaureate, advanced practice (comprised of clinical nurse specialists and psychiatric nurse practitioners), and nurse scientists and academicians (PhD). APNA serves as a resource for psychiatric-mental health nurses to engage in networking, education, and the dissemination of evidence. The American Psychiatric Nurses Association is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
