During its annual convention, members of the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA) elected Ethan Slocum, a bachelor of science (BSN) student at Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, as president of the Board of Directors.
"Nurses today wear many hats. Beyond being caretakers, we often become IT support, patient transporters, pharmacy technicians and more. With all of these tasks, it can be easy to get caught up in the policy and percentage game that nursing can become, which can contribute to burnout and dissatisfaction," Slocum said on his campaign social media channels. "As NSNA president, I want to find ways to highlight our passionate student leaders and help recenter each other on why we love nursing and how to be better, more passionate future nurses."
Slocum has served two consecutive terms as president of the Case Western Reserve University Undergraduate Student Nurses Association (USNA) and was previously vice president of events.
He currently serves in multiple leadership roles, including as Director of Health Policy and Advocacy for the Ohio Student Nurses Association (OSNA); BSN Representative to the CWRU Dean's Student Advisory Council; resident assistant for CWRU Office of Residence Life; and student mentor in the CWRU USNA Mentor-Mentee Program.
Even as an undergraduate nursing student, Slocum has plenty of experience. He currently works as a patient care technician in the cardiovascular ICU at the Cleveland Clinic/ Previously he worked as a nurse technician at the Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, Michigan, and as a nursing assistant on the trauma step-down unit at University Hospitals.
According to the NSNA website, the NSNA president "serves as the principal officer of the association and presides at all meetings; responsible for seeing that direction given by the House of Delegates and the actions of the Board are carried into effect; appoints committees and their chairpersons with the approval of the Board; serves as an ex-officio member of all committees, except the Nominating and Elections Committee; serves as ex-officio member of the Foundation of the NSNA Board of Trustees and represents NSNA."
The annual convention of over 2,100 students, speakers, faculty members, consultant and exhibitors was held in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort.
The full board of directors list can be found on this NSNA press release.