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While national healthcare debates continue dominating headlines, a leadership election that could shape nursing’s voice in policy, advocacy, and public health is quietly approaching.
At the end of June, delegates of the American Nurses Association (ANA) will select the organization’s next president, a role that often becomes one of the profession’s most visible national voices.
For many nurses, that announcement may come as a surprise.
While healthcare discussions continue to focus on staffing shortages, workplace violence, burnout, artificial intelligence, public health threats, and healthcare policy, relatively little attention has been paid to the leadership election underway within the nation’s largest nursing organization. Yet the individual elected will likely spend the next several years speaking on behalf of nursing in media interviews, policy discussions, advocacy efforts, and national healthcare conversations.
That raises a simple question: How much do nurses know about the individuals seeking one of the profession’s most influential leadership positions?
Why the ANA President Election Matters
The next ANA president will assume leadership during one of the most consequential periods for nursing in recent memory.
The profession is confronting challenges ranging from funding for graduate nursing education and workforce shortages to artificial intelligence, workplace violence, burnout, and emerging public health concerns. Recent debates surrounding student loan restrictions, AI liability, and infectious disease preparedness have added new layers of complexity to an already strained healthcare system.
How nursing responds — and who speaks on behalf of the profession — may influence healthcare policy, education, workforce development, and patient care for years to come.
Why Nurses Should Pay Attention
While many nurses may be unaware of the election, the outcome extends far beyond ANA governance. ANA presidents are often called upon to represent nursing during national conversations about healthcare policy, workforce issues, public health emergencies, education, and professional practice. They may testify before lawmakers, provide commentary to national media outlets, issue public statements on behalf of the association, and help shape nursing’s policy agenda.
At a time when debates over artificial intelligence, workforce shortages, healthcare reform, and public health preparedness continue to dominate headlines, nursing’s most visible leaders can play an important role in shaping how the profession’s perspective is heard.
How the ANA President Election Works
What many nurses may not realize is that the ANA president is not elected through a direct vote of the nursing profession.
Instead, the election takes place through ANA’s Membership Assembly, where delegates vote through a representative governance structure. Delegates are selected through ANA’s constituent associations and organizational affiliates and are responsible for voting on leadership positions and organizational business.
Supporters of the system point to its long-standing governance model and representative structure. Others argue that the process can feel distant from the broader nursing workforce, particularly given the profession’s size.
The election also highlights a broader question about representation. ANA describes itself as representing the interests of the nation’s more than five million registered nurses, while membership figures appear far smaller. Online sources report ANA membership at approximately 220,000, while the Center for Union Facts lists it at 195,884. We looked for this data in the latest annual report, but were unable to locate it. ANA’s most recent publicly available annual report appears to be from 2023.
Regardless of the exact figure, ANA’s elected leaders are chosen through the association’s membership and delegate structure, even as ANA presidents often serve as public-facing representatives of nursing in media interviews, policy discussions, legislative advocacy, and public health debates.
That distinction raises an important question: How much opportunity do nurses have to learn about the individuals seeking one of the profession’s most influential leadership positions before votes are cast?
The Visibility Question
During reporting for this story, Nurse Approved sought opportunities to learn more about the candidates and hear directly from those seeking the organization’s highest elected office.
The publication inquired about broader public-facing opportunities for candidate engagement prior to the election. In response, the ANA Nominating Election Committee declined Nurse Approved’s invitation to host a candidate forum and stated that candidates already engage with Membership Assembly Representatives through NEC-approved forums, campaign materials, networking opportunities, webinars, presentations, and social media outreach.
ANA also noted that candidates participate in a formal NEC Candidate Forum during Membership Assembly and may host informational booths for Representatives attending the event.
For nurses who are not delegates, Membership Assembly participants, or actively involved in ANA governance, access to those discussions remains limited.
The issue is not whether ANA has the right to conduct its election through its established governance process. As a membership organization, it does. Rather, the question is whether the broader nursing profession has sufficient visibility into the individuals who may soon become some of its most prominent public representatives.
If ANA presidents routinely become some of the most recognizable voices representing nursing in the public arena, should more nurses have opportunities to hear directly from those candidates before the election takes place?
A Conversation Worth Having
This article is not about endorsing a candidate. It is about awareness.
The next ANA president will assume leadership during a period marked by workforce shortages, educational challenges, rapid technological change, public health concerns, and significant healthcare policy debates. Those issues will affect nurses across every specialty, practice setting, and region of the country.
Whether nurses are ANA members or not, many of the positions taken by national nursing leaders influence broader conversations about healthcare, education, public policy, and the future of the profession.
As the June election approaches, nurses may want to ask themselves a few questions:
- Who are the candidates seeking to lead the nation’s largest nursing organization?
- What are their priorities for the profession?
- How do they view issues such as nursing education, workforce development, artificial intelligence, advocacy, and public health?
- And perhaps most importantly, how can nurses learn more before one of the profession’s most influential leadership positions is decided?
For a profession of more than five million nurses, those questions may be worth asking before the votes are cast.
Nurses interested in learning more can contact their state ANA affiliate to inquire about the candidates and ask how delegates are approaching the upcoming vote.
Editor’s Note: Nurse Approved reached out to the American Nurses Association (ANA) requesting clarification regarding current membership figures referenced in this article and is awaiting a response. Nurses seeking additional information may contact ANA directly at memberinfo@ana.org.
