President's Letter

Fiscal year 2019 has been a tremendous growth year for Texas Organization of Nurse Executives (TONE) largely due the dedication from our chapter leaders and committee chairs. The diligent efforts of or chapter leadership to bring value to the chapter meetings and the meticulous work from our committees has kept us connected, educated and informed. Their combined energy has generated a 21 % growth as of July 2019.

Consistent with our goal to see growth specifically from new organizations, most of our chapters have increased their membership with nursing leaders from new acute care organizations, non-acute care and academia. The “new organizations” are those organizations who were not represented in the chapters as of September 1, 2018. The chapters also continued to see growth from those organizations who were already represented in their chapter.

This fiscal year, TONE was strengthened by the addition of three new chapters: Permian Basin Organization of Nurse Executives (PBONE) in Midland/Odessa; Lone Star Organization of Nurse Executives (LONE) in Temple; and, as of August 15, 2019, the West Texas Organization of Nurse Executives (WTONE) in Abilene/San Angelo. We appreciate the nursing leadership in those areas for expanding chapter access for Texas nurses.

The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) became the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) officially in April of 2019. The TONE board, with member input, has approved changing TONE to Texas Organization for Nursing Leadership (TONL), and the official date is planned for January 2020. The name change process requires several steps as well as official notifications at the state and national level for tax purposes. The main reason for the AONL name change was a concern that the word “Executive” was a barrier for aspiring and/or manager-level nurse leaders, thus preventing them from joining. Currently for TONE, the manager/director level nursing leadership makes up the largest category on our membership roster. With the name change, we should certainly see more membership growth. 

At our July Board meeting, we reviewed our annual surveys for membership input, CMP management effectiveness and board performance. We had a good survey response rate this year and appreciate your participation. In response to the surveys, TONE members can expect to see a continuing social media presence, an expansion of our annual conference in the Houston area, an easier renewal and pay structure for continuing your membership and relevant nursing leadership communication through both our monthly newsletter as well as chapter meetings.

On behalf of the board, thank you for your continued support and engagement in TONE. Your active involvement in committees and chapter activities helps to create a diverse nursing practice group and build a meaningful organization for nursing leadership.

 - Tim Howell, DNP, RN, CENP, TONE President