ENA in the USA...

Published: 16 February 2010

ECA steering committee members Rabina Tindale and Jim Bethel were fortunate enough to be able to attend 2009's annual conference of the Emergency Nurse Association (ENA) of the United States. Held in Baltimore, Maryland, 6–10 October 2009, it attracted more than 3,000 delegates. Here, they write:

A wide reach

The ENA represents emergency nurses from every state in the USA and has almost 40,000 members across the country. As well as delegates from the UK, the conference attracted delegates from Lebanon, Greece, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. At the conference, ENA representatives met with the international delegates to discuss the advantages of a worldwide affiliation of emergency nurses and envisage how such an organisation might be developed.

The first two days of the conference were largely taken up with administrative and legislative matters and were similar in nature to RCN Congress. Representatives from all states had the opportunity to present and debate motions and amendments. Some of the issues raised seemed very familiar, with a lot of talk about emergency department waiting times and workplace violence.

Delegates at the conference take a break during proceedings in Baltimore. All states, from Arizona to Wyoming, are represented, having been allocated delegate places according to how many members they have. Larger states such as New York and California thus have more delegate places (and therefore more voting rights) than smaller states such as Utah or Georgia.

Fascinating presentations

The scientific part of the conference took place 8–10 October and emphasised clinical issues. Plenary, workshop and poster presentations were given on various themes, including:

This part of the conference also featured a cadaver lab: eight cadavers were placed in a super-chilled room and delegates had the opportunity to dissect and practice interventional procedures, such as intraosseus placement. I wondered to what extent we could replicate this at future ECA conferences!

Baltimore is on the eastern seaboard of the USA and has a modern tourist district built around its historical port area. It is only about 40 kilometres from the American capital, Washington, DC. Next year's ENA conference is in the Texan city of San Antonio.

Want to join?

The ENA welcomes international delegates at its conference and it is also possible to join the ENA as an international member – this membership includes subscription to the organisation’s publication, the Journal of Emergency Nursing. For further information, visit the ENA website.

As a part of the reciprocal agreement with the ECA, the current ENA President William Briggs attended the ECA's annual conference in Harrogate during October 2009. In the near future it is hoped that the two organisations will develop an exchange programme allowing nurses from the UK to live and work in an American emergency department and vice versa.

I saw the car above parked in the ambulance bay of the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center that I visited in the east side of Baltimore. I couldn’t resist taking a photograph of it!The R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center