Janet Linn

I am honored to have the opportunity to represent CNSA over the next year as the Membership Director North. Being a member of CNSA is such an enriching experience for student nurses. I look forward to working with the State Board and my committee to increase membership so more who are pursuing, or are interested nursing as a career, can be empowered to realize their dreams, and discover more about professional nursing.

We all come into nursing with a unique story that explains our passion for nursing. Even though I was intrigued with medicine from an early age, my idea of what nursing is all about has evolved over many years. It wasn’t until I was a senior in college, when having my first child, that I saw nurses in action and realized nursing was the career for me! I had a detour along the way when I was urged to become a dental hygienist instead and decided that it made sense to pursue that career path. It is a bit ironic, because at that time I was told I could get directly into the nursing program at the school I was applying to, but I had to wait four years for my number to be picked in a lottery to get into their dental hygiene program. Once my mind was made up that it would be better for my family to be a hygienist, I stuck to my decision. Even though my career in hygiene was great, the passion and desire I had for nursing was still there after graduation. This was disconcerting after all of the work I put into my dental hygiene degree. Here I am, twelve years after graduation from dental hygiene school, in school again. This feels so different and so right, and I am looking forward to being able to write “RN” at the end of my name.

Nursing is a fantastic career and there is something for everyone. That is one of the great things about CNSA – it can help students understand their options for their education, both now and in the future. It can help students serve in the community and connect with people who will lead them to the next level. It can help in job searching and teach leadership skills. Because CNSA is such a great resource for nursing students, one of my goals is to work to increase awareness of the organization and exactly what it does for student nurses. So much has been done by those who have gone before me, and I hope to add my own mark through efforts to continue nurturing relationships forged in the past. I would also like to build strength in small chapters and inform and encourage thriving chapters to include more students who might not be aware of CNSA and what membership could do for them. As I said in the beginning, it is an honor to be given the trust to take this job and run with it. I will do my level best to add to the great work of my predecessors.

Goals for 2016-2017: 

• There are many chapters existing with a handful of members. I will work to assist at least four of these chapters to become a functioning chapter, building on the efforts which got them to begin a chapter in the first place.
• I would like to build a committee which reaches across the broad region that the Membership North area covers to include students from various parts of the State. With this diverse committee, I would like us to assist in the creation of at least two new chapters.With my committee I would like to begin the process of recruiting more pre-nursing and alternate track students into existing CNSA chapters.
• With the help of my committee and the amazing State Board of 2016-2017, I would like to plan and organize an inspiring Membership North Meeting that addresses the needs of the students from its representative chapters.
• Create materials for CNSA that can easily be used to promote membership benefits to potential members. These materials will help interested students and faculty clearly see the advantages of membership.

Contact: [email protected]