Making the South Carolina Nurses Association more relevant among younger nurses is one of the goals of its newly elected president.

Vicki C. Green, who has served as nursing director at the Orangeburg County Health Department since 1994, has been tapped to lead the SCNA, the professional organization for registered nurses in the state and a member of the American Nurses Association. Green has been a member since 1986 and most recently served as chairperson of the association's Commission on Chapters. She now has her sight set on expanding the association's reach to younger generations as president.

"I think the key for us in the Nurses Association is trying to make it a valid resource and trying to keep it as a priority for a lot of nurses today," Green said. "I think we struggled with what the other professional organizations struggle with because there are so many different specialties of nursing ... that you can participate in. When times get tough economically, you have to make these choices of what's most important."

Green, who began working at the Orangeburg County Health Department in 1985 as a part-time nurse, said the association's increased use of the Internet is one of the ways it's using technology to engage younger nurses. The SCNA has been touted as the official voice of nursing in the state, speaking out on health care issues on behalf of nurses and the public.

Green said the SCNA board has also changed its bylaws to include a nurse who would have been licensed within the past five years to its membership "to have some younger people come on board and to kind of help steer some of the things that the ... board does."

She said the association already has two paid lobbyists that go to the South Carolina General Assembly and monitor all nursing and nursing-related legislation. The group also uses Capwiz, an online advocacy system that makes it easy for nurses to contact their representatives about a particular issue.

"It's a great way to engage people in the political arena. We're keenly aware of the things that get introduced that could affect the Nurse Practice Act. We also put things in our publication to let our nurses know that there's been a law introduced," Green said. As president, Green writes a column for the association's quarterly publication, "South Carolina Nurse."

Green said there have been a lot of changes in health care since she first began work in the field.

"We have struggled, especially in the rural South, with the uninsured and underinsured," she said. "I think that's worse now because we have too many people unemployed. Medicaid is also under the gun to keep their rolls smaller, so they've decreased a lot of their programs.

"What I see as a need in nursing now is probably a lot more related to the stresses that families are going through with their mental health and counseling needs."

Green said mental health is one of the areas that has suffered over the years, as far as funding and service availability to the community.

"We don't have a lot of mental health resources in our state," she said. "Obviously, the community -- churches, nonprofit groups, sororities and fraternities -- is going to have to really step up and band together to try and support the family structure for families and communities to survive."

Green said the economic crisis has impacted the Edisto-Savannah Public Health District, of which the Orangeburg County Health Department is a part, with layoffs and community health clinic closures. She said there should be greater sustainability among funding sources to help keep departments financially afloat.

"That's probably one of the most frustrating things for us in public health. You see all these cycles of grants ... and then once the grant's gone, you're almost back to square one," Green said. "It's just a vicious cycle. How do you continue programs once that funding source is gone? I don't know what the answer to that one is."

She said she isn't sure whether a so-called nursing shortage across the state may just be "a shortage of nurses willing to work in nursing." She said fortunately, there are many individuals who go back to school to become nurses as a second or third career choice. She said the SCNA has already donated funds this past year to its charitable arm, the South Carolina Nurses Foundation, to create nursing scholarships in exchange for students agreeing to work in the state for three years.

She said not only is there a need to attract nurses to the practical application -- there is also a need to attract nurses to faculty positions, which are seeing a shortage of their own. But the use high-tech simulated labs in the nursing profession have helped ease the burden, she said.

Green said while there have been challenges, she has enjoyed helping people during her career in public health.

"I've had a lot of opportunities to grow. I've had a lot of doors shut, but I've also had a lot of windows open," she said. "I feel like where I am is where I'm supposed to be."

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

National Nurses Week

National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. As of 1998, May 8 was designated as National Student Nurses Day. And as of 2003, National School Nurse Day is celebrated on the Wednesday during National Nurses Week each year.

From the American Nurses Association, nursingworld.org

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