Happy 40th Birthday to the Baromedical Nurses Association!!
2025 will be the 40th year of the Baromedical Nurses Association! The BNA will celebrate this exciting event at the annual Hyperbaric Nurses Day in April! All are welcome to join us for great presentations and free CEUs for BNA members, which are offered at a fee of $15.00 for non-BNA members.
A little history: It is my honor that I participated in the decision to form the Baromedical Nurses Association in 1985 and have been an active member since then.
The following statements are from: Minkiewitz White, K and Baker, T, Baromedical Nurses Association History, The Textbook of Hyperbaric Nursing, Best Publishing Company 2002 pp 1-4.
- The Undersea Medical Society (UMS) was available at that time (before they added Hyperbaric to their name), and nurses could be associate members.
- Nurses were involved in developing hyperbaric programs, training nurses and others to care for patients receiving HBO therapy, and starting to write about the Baromedical nursing experience in nursing and other scientific journals.
- We wanted to come together as nurses to discuss the problems and patients we were dealing with daily.
- So, after much groundwork by Diana Greenburg, assisted by Valerie Messina, a meeting was held in Long Beach, California, as part of the 1985 Joint Conference, UHMS ASM/Tenth Annual Conference on Clinical Application of Hyperbaric Oxygen.
- At the meeting, 35 nurses voted to establish the Baromedical Nurses Association. The enthusiasm and energy at the initial meeting were fantastic!
- We were a nursing organization for nurses by nurses. The mission was approved. The functions were identified as:
- To define and implement standards of practice
- To promote ongoing educational endeavors for nurses practicing in Baromedical nursing and to educate other nurses regarding this specialty.
- To support research validating the concepts inherent in Baromedical nursing and the publication and dissemination of these findings
- To promote professional activities that enhance the effectiveness of Baromedical nursing in the overall healthcare system
- We elected Diana De Jesus-Greenburg as our first president and decided to hold a meeting with the UHMS scientific meeting to promote attendance.
- We also voted to obtain the services of a legal firm
- Plans began immediately for a credentialing system, and all in attendance went home with a sense of pride and wonderment that a new organization had been born.
The present:
The BNA board and BNA members continue to actively work together by mentoring, publishing books and articles, being involved in research, presenting papers at BNA and UHMS meetings, serving on BNA, UHMS, and Associates committees, being active nurse members of the UHMS Accreditation team as nurse surveyors, and having nursing representation on the UHMS Board of Directors.
The future:
Whether you are a new or a seasoned hyperbaric nurse, your views and input count! Everyone’s perspective and experience add so much to the overall success of our field. The only requirement is your passion for what you do. Your input and view are valuable. Everyone’s perspective and experience add so much to the overall greatness of this organization.
We look forward to everyone attending the 2025 Baromedical Nurses Association - Hyperbaric Nurses Day annual celebration in April!
Have you checked out the forum on the BNA website lately? You are encouraged to visit https://hyperbaricnurses.org/ for more information on BNA activities and contacts.