December 7, 2011

Drexel University student and Holland resident Alexis Burns was elected Legislative Coordinator of the State Board of Directors of the Student Nurses’ Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) during the annual convention held Nov. 15-19, 2011 in Lancaster, Pa. Burns will responsible for leading the state organization’s legislative agenda on Capitol Hill in Harrisburg, Pa. 

SNAP, a student-run organization that represents over 6,000 students from nursing schools throughout Pennsylvania, is part of the National Student Nurses' Association. One of its member benefits, legislative representation, is what Burns will be focused on.

Burns, one of four freshmen selected to attend both the annual state convention and the LEAD Workshop for SNAP last year, was inspired to run for the position after a workshop she attended.

“One of the presentations given at this conference was about politics and nursing and how nurses need to become more politically active in their nursing organizations. The presenter described how she was chosen to attend a special session with other health care professionals and President Obama and was shocked to discover that very few nurses were there in comparison to all the doctors,” says Burns.

Her goal is to get nursing students involved in the legislative side of SNAP.  She is a sophomore in the Bachelor’s of Science Nursing co-op program in Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions, and also serves as Legislative Coordinator for the local Drexel University chapter of SNAP.

Drexel’s chapter, the largest in Pennsylvania and in the National Student Nurses’ Association with 845 members, was recognized with the gold chapter excellence award in the category of “chapters with 150+ members” during the national conference.