Membership Information:
In 1977, the Sub-Section became a Section on Nursing. From 1977 to 1980 membership grew from 34 to 110 members. Membership Guidelines to ATS were revised whereby the status of active membership could be offered to non-doctorally prepared members “of national prominence who have distinguished themselves by making contributions to respiratory disease in research, teaching or clinical practice.”
Members in the ATS Subsection on Nursing in 1977 were:
Marilyn M Abraham |
Patsy R Hansen O Anne Harrison Doris M Holm Suzanne Lareau Gwendolyn McDonald Sr Regina M Maibusch Joanne P Meany Louise M Nett Margaret A Nield Margo A Pinney Elaine I Salkeld Susan J Smith Alice M Stein Laurel A Talabere Gayle A Traver Martha L Tyler |
Committee Activities
Two Standing Committees existed, the Program and Nominating Committees. The small, but dynamic group of nurses quickly contributed to pulmonary nursing and ATS by developing standards to address timely issues. For example, a subcommittee developed a Position Paper on the Skills of the Health Team Involved in Out of Hospital Care for Patients with COPD (published in ATS NEWS, Summer, 1977 and American Review of Respiratory Disease 1986; 133:948-949) and an ad hoc committee was appointed to develop Standards of Nursing Practice. This Task Force published a draft of the Standards in ATS NEWS, Winter 1978. In 1979, another Task Force developed and published the Role of the Pulmonary Nurse Specialist (ATS NEWS, Fall 1979). The ongoing offering of Special Interest Groups began, whereby nurses with common interests formalized themselves into groups. The first two Special Interest Groups to form were the Pediatric Nurses and Faculty of Graduate Programs. The pediatric group began work on developing a Statement on the Role of the Pediatric Pulmonary Clinical Nurse Specialist (completed in 1982). The Faculty of Graduate Programs began the task of developing a core curriculum. The concept of Special Interest Groups became an important mechanism for networking at the annual meetings.
Program Activities
Abstracts were presented at the Annual Meetings with the Section presenting from 16 to 31. The major themes of the abstracts were: suctioning, postural drainage, tracheostomy care, and psychosocial responses to illness. Two symposia were usually offered on topics such as: research, ethics, nursing diagnosis, and tuberculosis. Several Sunrise Seminars were offered on such topics as: nursing diagnosis, patient compliance, chest therapy, chronic mechanical ventilation, and the consultation process.