President's Message

Greetings Eastern Nursing Research Society (ENRS) members,

 I have many updates to share, beginning with a warm welcome to our new Executive Director, Jenny Cudahy, who joined Association & Conference Group this past June. Jenny is an accomplished association management professional with extensive experience leading educational, fundraising, and member engagement initiatives for national and international organizations. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Cindy Dady for her steadfast commitment to ENRS and her service as Executive Director for the last two years. In total, Cindy has worked with ENRS for four years and we are fortunate that she will continue to share her knowledge and resources, offering much support to Jenny during the transition of executive director roles. We also congratulate our Meeting Planner, Beth Pasquale, on the recent birth of her daughter. Beth was instrumental in the planning and success of the 38th Annual Scientific Sessions in Boston and she has chosen to work as a full-time mom. Jeanette Foster has joined the ACG staff team and will be collaborating with our President-Elect, Susan DeSanto-Madeya, in planning the 39th Annual Scientific Sessions of ENRS in Philadelphia, March 31, 2027 - April 2, 2027. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Carolyn Lagermasini and the ACG team; our contract was renewed on July 22nd.

Now on to the work of our Executive Board. My weekly President’s Meeting includes Susan DeSanto-Madeya, Jenny Cudahy, and Cindy Dady (during the transition of Executive Directors) serving as our touchdown space to dialogue and plan for activities and initiatives to meet the strategic goals of our society. The schedule of full Board Meetings is listed below. Of note, we added an additional full board meeting in the fall to plan for the annual ENRS Board Retreat. Two brief board meetings were held to vote on the Member-at-Large to the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) Committee position, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) public comment, and my involvement in the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) Listening Sessions (exciting news to follow below).

Our collaboration with the regional societies is highly productive and I am learning quite a bit about nursing research and scholarship in the different regions. Please join me in giving a shout-out to each regional president for their generosity as leaders and commitment to nursing research.

Austin Nation, PhD, RN, PHN, NE-BC, Western Institute of Nursing
Mercy Ngosa Mumba, PhD, RN, FAAN, Southern Nursing Research Society
Jennifer Doering, PhD, RN, FAAN, Midwest Nursing Research Society

During our regional meeting in June, we were joined by Karen A. Kehl, Ph.D., R.N., Chief, Systems and Models of Care Branch, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. We learned of the opportunity for each regional president to represent their society for a regional/NINR partnership. This partnership entails a listening session (since scheduled for September 9, 2026) to inform the NINR Strategic Plan (2027-2031). One primary goal of this partnership and listening session is to gather input from early-stage investigators (ESIs) and post-doctoral fellows from the different regions. The ENRS Board voted in favor of my participation as your regional president. Although all are welcome, please encourage ESIs and post-docs from ENRS to participate – registration remains open until September 4, 2026. This is a critical time for research funding and advocacy efforts for ESIs and post-docs are very much needed.

Before closing and related to advocacy for nursing research, I highly encourage you to consider serving on an ENRS Board or Committee. Nominations remain open until August 28, 2026. Truly, my current and past leadership experiences with ENRS are among the highlights of my nursing career.

Sincerely,

Ann-Margaret Navarra, PhD, CPNP-PC, FAAN
President, Eastern Nursing Research Society