Kentucky Nurses Association records

The Kentucky Nurses Association (KNA) was organized in 1906 by nurses wanting to assure that those who care for patients in Kentucky are professionally trained, licensed, and regulated. From its first convention in 1907, KNA (originally known as Kentucky State Association of Graduate Nurses) has worked towards professional standards in the education and licensing of nurses by means of legislation and the Kentucky Board of Nursing. KNA also promotes high quality care for all patients through publications, policy statements, legislation, cooperation with other health care professionals, and representation on agencies and commissions. Authorized to act as a collective bargaining agent by its members in 1946, KNA began to exercise that function in the late 1960s. From its founding, KNA has been affiliated with the American Nurses Association (ANA), and is part of its tiered membership structure. Individual nurses simultaneously join a KNA district (the first two were founded in 1918), the state organization, and ANA.

The initial meeting, organized by graduate nurses from the John M. Norton Memorial Infirmary Alumnae Association and the Jefferson County Graduate Nurses Association, convened in Louisville. A representative of the Nurses Associated Alumnae of the U.S. and Canada (which evolved into the American Nurses Association) assisted the Kentucky nurses in creating and adopting by-laws, electing officers, and calling a statewide meeting for 1907. The national organization also assisted with drafting a nurse practice act, which was approved at the 1907 convention.

The annual meeting continues to be the governing body of KNA. (The name of the organization was changed to Kentucky State Association of Registered Nurses in 1919 and to Kentucky Nurses Association in 1964.) At the annual meeting, the membership enacts resolutions establishing association policy and elects a president and board of directors. Committees (permanent and ad hoc), commissions and boards, appointed by the board and president, manage association affairs, study and recommend policy; implement policy set by the membership, and represent KNA. Since 1920, KNA members have also had the option of belonging to councils (formerly known as sections) based upon their area of practice or the institutional setting of their employment. The number and names of these councils, which also elect their own officers, have varied over the history of their existence. These voluntary councils now organize much of the program of the annual meeting and many specialized workshops.

KNA is further organized by district and maintains a separate administrative staff to coordinate the organization. KNA adopted a district plan, in line with the American Nurses Association’s new membership structure, in 1918. With the exception of old District 12, which served the Frontier Nursing Service, geography defines the districts. From the original Eastern and Western districts, KNA increased to 20 districts (designated by number since 1933) by the late 1970s. In 1996, it reorganized to 11. Local nurses petition to create them and the KNA Board approves their constitution and by-laws, but districts are otherwise autonomous. They elect their own officers, may have their own sections, plan local programs and sponsor workshops. Since 1933, KNA has employed an Executive Director (formerly Executive Secretary), appointed by the Board of Directors, to manage day-to-day activities. From the late 1950s onward, the activities and importance of this professional manager have increased.

As the professional organization for nurses in Kentucky, KNA works to maintain and enhance nurses’ status, working conditions, and salary. It also serves as the voice of the nursing profession, making statements and affecting policy regarding patients’ issues and health care generally. Obtaining acceptable state and national laws to define and regulate the practice of nursing was an early goal. The first Kentucky Nurse Practice Act, drafted by KNA in 1907 and passed by the legislature in 1914, created the mechanism, controlled substantially by the association, for licensing Kentucky's nurses and nursing education programs. According to the law, KNA makes all nominations to the Board of Examiners for Trained Nurses (later renamed the Board of Nursing Education and Nurse Registration), from which the governor names members. The Board was given both the authority to examine and certify candidates for licensure, and the power to revoke nursing licenses for cause. KNA's annual meeting holds sole power to hear appeals of board decisions. In subsequent decades, lobbying by the association strengthened the law by requiring annual renewal of licenses (1920) and additional training and payment for renewal of lapsed licenses (1942). KNA lobbied successfully for law to define the scope of registered and practical nursing, and to license practical nurses through a subsidiary of the registered nurses board (1946, 1950). In the 1960s and 1970s, the legislative interests of the association broadened to include mandatory nurse representation on government health agencies and boards, including those writing health care standards for federally-funded programs; planning and funding for nursing education and manpower development; improving salaries and working conditions for nurses in tax-supported institutions; and securing collective bargaining rights for public employees. More recently, KNA has taken positions on patients’ rights, health care costs and similar issues.

KNA has acted as a collective bargaining agent for its members since the 1960s. Bargaining units (or chapters) were established in a number of public and private health agencies, and KNA participated in a campaign to unionize state employees.

For further information on the history and structure of KNA, see Fifty Years of Service, 1906-1956 and other publications and materials collected by the Historical Committee (see finding aid, Series V, VIII).