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ONA House of Delegates Reference Process

Below are the policies, procedures that shoud be used by individual ONA members, region nurses’ associations, ONA structural units, and the Board of Directors when submitting proposals for consideration by the ONA House of Delegates.  Also included are guidelines that may be helpful in preparing the reference.  For a copy of the recommended freference orm, click here.  If you have questions or need more informaiton please contact an ONA board member or the Executive Director.

 

Policies

Definition of a Proposal -describes the need for and proposes specific action:

      1. dealing with a single topic;
      2. be concise and clear;
      3.  have relevance to nursing at state, national, and/or international levels;
      4.  not duplicate existing association policy, bylaws or previous actions(s) of the House of Delegates;
      5.  include citations for facts and figures using APA style format.

 Purpose of a Proposal

      1. To make the position of the association on matters of national and statewide significance affecting nurses, nursing and the health care needs of the public.
      2. To call for specific action by the Oklahoma Nurses Association and/or its structural units, the American Nurses Association or some other organization or government body. 

Proposals may be initiated by:

    • Individual ONA members;
    • Region nurses’ associations;
    • ONA, including the Board of Directors and all organizational units. 

Emergency Proposals

A proposal dealing with an issue, the nature of which was not known prior to the deadline date for non-emergency proposals.In the introduction of the proposal, the submitter must provide a rationale as to how the proposal meets the criteria for an emergency proposal. 

Deadline for Submitting Proposals

Proposals must be RECEIVED in the ONA office by 4:00 p.m. on July 30. Proposals will be date stamped upon receipt in the ONA office. Any proposal received after July 30 will be returned. Proposals may be submitted via email to ona.ed@oklahomanurses.org or surface mail. If the proposal is submitted via surface mail, please send one clean copy of each proposal plus a diskette containing an electronic copy of each report (saved as a Microsoft Word file). 
 
Emergency proposals must be submitted to the Reference Committee in writing by 4:00 p.m. the day proceeding the first session of the House of Delegates. Emergency proposals must be submitted in proper form with enough copies for each voting member of the House of Delegates.

Procedures

 Proposals shall be submitted in the format directed by the guidelines and form, and forwarded to the ONA office by the deadline. Each proposal shall include:
  1. Title
  2. Name of submitter and contact person, (with phone number)
  3. Recommended action(s)
  4. A statement regarding how the proposal is related to ONA’s mission or an explanation which indicates that the proposal is unrelated to the mission with rationale about why it should be considered.
  5. Rationale for submission should include the need for proposal (emergency proposals must also address why issue was not known prior to the deadline date) and provide a historical perspective
  6. Expected outcomes would include  how the proposal will benefit the community, the association and/or the profession as well as the political impact of recommended action
  7. Suggested activities by which the action recommended could be implemented.
  8. Financial impact statement for suggested activity that has been developed in collaboration with ONA staff and Treasurer.
  9. References (using APA style format).
 

Review of Proposals by Reference Committee

    1. The Reference Committee will review all proposals received by the deadline date.
    2. The Reference Committee has the authority to do the following:
      • accept for hearing,
      • edit to clarify and accept for hearing,
      • consolidate any nearly identical proposals for joint sponsorship,
      • refer to submitter with recommendations for revision based on criteria,
      •  consult with ONA structural unit or district nurses’ association for policy clarification, interpretation, or input,
      •  refer a proposal to ONA structural unit for action when content is defined by policy or bylaws to be the business of that organizational unit.
      •  reject for such reasons as:
        •  duplication of existing policy, bylaws or previous actions of the House of Delegates,
        •  not congruent with ONA Philosophy/Long Range Plan, or Bylaws.
    3. The Reference Committee shall notify the submitter of the committee’s action on the proposal prior to the House of Delegates and provide the committee’s rationale.
    4. Proposals to be submitted to the House of Delegates will be included in a delegate packet and shall be available to individual members and/or structural units upon request.
    5. Appeal Process: The submitter of a proposal may appeal a decision of the Reference Committee
      1. Step I - Board of Directors
        • the submitter of the proposal may submit an appeal in writing within 30 days of receiving the decision of the Reference Committee.
        • The Board of Directors shall review the decision of the Reference Committee and the appeal of the submitter and may: (A) sustain the decision of the Reference Committee; or (B) revoke the decision of the Reference Committee and refer the proposal to the House of Delegates.
        • The Board of Directors shall provide a rationale for its decision to the submitter of the proposal and to the Reference Committee.
      2. Step II - House of Delegates
        • If the Board of Directors sustains decision of Reference Committee the submitter may request through a main motion that the House of Delegates hear their proposal. This motion should come at the time of the Reference Committee report at the first House of Delegates.
        •  A 2/3 vote be required to reverse the decision of the Board of Directors.               

Procedure for Emergency Proposals

  1. Proposals of an emergency nature shall be announced at the first meeting of the House of Delegates.
  2. The House shall decide by 2/3 vote whether each emergency proposal should be scheduled for action by the House. (The motion to schedule is not debatable.)
  3. Emergency proposals will be placed on the agenda so that they will be considered after all other proposals have been considered.           

House of Delegates

The submitters of proposals, or their designees, should plan to be present and may be requested to clarify elements of their reports.  Recommendations of proposals are debated and voted on by the House of Delegates, ONA’s highest decision-making body. Only the main motions of the proposals t (the recommendations) are voted on by the House. The House does not vote on the rationale, references, or expected outcomes.
 

Guidelines for Proposals (Use Recommended Form)

TITLE:           

Phrase that describes succinctly the recommended action 

SUBMITTED BY:      

Include the name of one of the following (name a specific contact person)

      • ONA Board of Directors
      • ONA Structural Unit
      • Region Nurses Association
      • Individual ONA Member 

RECOMMENDED   ACTION(S):  

Similar to resolves in resolutions. Clearly identifies position or specific action requested. (The actions proposed should be of significant concern to nurses and the association and not a duplication of major initiatives of other associations or groups)

 ONA MISSION:   Identifies how the proposal relates to the mission of the Oklahoma Nurses Association. . If the proposal does not relate to the mission, please explain why it should be considered.

 BACKGROUND INFORMATION

RATIONALE:     

  1.  Identify Need: Why is action needed?
  2. Historical Perspective: What has nursing or the professional association done or not done which: supports the action requested? 
EXPECTED OUTCOMES:
      1. Benefits: Who will benefit because of this proposal and in what way? (Community, association, profession)
      2. Political Impact: How will this action be viewed by lay public, other nurses, nursing organizations, health care colleagues, legislators, etc. 

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES:   List specific activities that might be used to accomplish the recommended action. What should be done? Who will do it?

 FINANCIAL IMPACT:  In collaboration with ONA staff and treasurer, estimate cost of suggested activities which implement recommended actions. Please call ONA (405-840-3476) for assistance or email the executive director. Suggested activities and financial impact information are intended to assist the delegates in understanding the impact of the proposal. The Board of Directors has the responsibility to select implementation strategies that meet the needs of the Association within budgetary limitations.

 Approved by the Board of Directors April 11, 2003

 

 

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