AAOHN To Induct Its First Male President
History will be made at the upcoming AAOHN Symposium & Expo when, on April 17, President-elect Richard Kowalski is slated to be installed as the association's first male president ever. AAOHN President Susan Randolph said that only a small number of men have served as presidents of any national nursing organizations.
"Men make up only 5.7 percent of the estimated 2.9 million nurses living and working in the United States as of August 2004," Randolph noted. "In AAOHN, men comprise 5.1 percent of the total current membership. Since AAOHN was established in 1942, there have been 14 men who have served on the Board of Directors, beginning in 1944." She added that only four men have served on the board during the past 20 years, including Kowalski from Michigan, Tom Smock from New York, Doug Hoffman from Ohio, and Ron Karnatz from Wisconsin.
Kowalski, RN, MSA, COHN-S, was an occupational health nurse for General Motors/Delphi Automotive for 31 years before retiring in March 2003 to become a consultant at Northern Michigan Occupational Health Consultants. Kowalski has said that when he was hired by General Motors there were 27 occupational nurses, and when he retired, he was the supervisor for seven occupational nurses, most of whom were contract emloyees. On April 17, he will be the leader of AAOHN's 10,000-member professional association, the largest group of health care providers serving the worksite.