Va State Weekly Email

Please see the first weekly email that was sent out form the Va State council. We will be having a webex this Saturday at 1pm. All the information is in the attached document.

Stay safe!

A lot has changed since we met in February and I’m sure many are wanting updates and have questions about the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on us professionally. Amid the shelter-in-place orders, the evolving clinical guidelines and startling statistics for Virginia, the thing that has remained constant is Emergency Nurse's commitment to patient care as we face the most unprecedented challenges that history has ever seen.

We as a board have been needed on the frontlines and like you, we were called to respond at this dark hour. We thank you for being patient with us as we are working through this “new normal” and getting guidance from National on how we should operate under these conditions.

 Before we could officially reach out, we needed to meet as a board to figure out what the new norm would look like until we are again allowed to meet in person. The majority of the board met just yesterday via Webex as this was what our schedules allowed.

Here’s our new commitment to you our membership:

• We will be sending out a touch base weekly email with various ENA information (not always COVID related). We want to stay in touch with you, as we are on the frontlines right along with you.
• We will be holding a brief (45 mins) WebEx meeting biweekly, the first being April 11th at 1pm. Video or Audio, your choice, although we’d love to see your faces! These meetings will be an informal time for us to share what each of us are facing and communicate any needs, struggles, etc.
• We have decided to submit an official letter to Governor Northam regarding the lack of PPE for frontline providers. This is the site that ENA suggests filling out if you need PPE. https://getusppe.org
• Self-care is very important because the stress is very high everywhere and our “normal” is not very normal right now. Please remember to take some time to yourself to decompress. There are great apps that are free right now: Downdog for yoga, ten percent for mediation, headspace for mediation to name a few.

We still have a business to cover for the State Council. We need your help to recruit speakers for our fall conference. What type of speakers do you want to hear? Know someone great? Have them fill out the attached application and send to Corbin cpmartin1@carilionclinic.org

 Our main ENA information for the week is that Mike Hastings, 2020 ENA President, is holding a virtual town hall on April 10th at 1pm. Join in and ask questions. I will be attending and if you can’t attend, feel free to email me your question I will ask for you.

 Just as ED nurses do every day, we will get through this challenge. Please stay strong knowing we will have a lot to celebrate when this is all over. Please email us with any specific concerns or questions, presidentvaena@gmail.com

Stay Safe,

Stephanie Fitch, VENA President 
Chris Parker, VENA President-Elect
Alexus Moore, VENA Treasurer
Lisa Scott, VENA Secretary

WebEx meeting info for April 11th:
Meeting number (access code): 790 145 876
Meeting Password: h5SMzu
Join by phone: +1-510-338-9438