The ONA Board of Directors are excited to announce the date and location for the ONA Convention and House of Delegates that takes place every two years.

Mark your calendars and join us in May 4-6, 2026 at the Graduate by Hilton Eugene in Eugene, OR.! The convention will feature a day and a half of continuing education sessions and one day of the ONA House of Delegates.

The House of Delegates is the governing body of ONA and is composed of the delegates, elected members, of the constituent associations. The House of Delegates takes positions, determines policy, and sets direction on substantive issues of a broad nature necessitating the authority and backing of the official voting body of ONA.

The 2026 ONA Convention is an opportunity for nurses, students and health care workers from across the state to come together to learn from each other, share our knowledge, and move the nursing and health care professions forward. Together we can guide Oregon's health care toward a stronger, more equitable, and more sustainable system. 

Convention

Registration is expected to open at the beginning of November. Please check back for more information on exhibiting at convention and submitting abstracts for poster presentations.

Continuing Education

Learners can earn approximately 12 nursing continuing professional development contact hours.Oregon Nurses Association is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

See our keynote speakers at the bottom of this page!

Registration

Online registration will be open Nov. 1, 2025 through April 20, 2026 at noon.

Registration Fees - Your Constituent Associations (CAs) may provide some funds toward convention if you are a delegate, click here for more info. 

Registration fees include:

• Convention attendance
• Continuing education contact hours
• Dinner on Monday
• Breakfast & lunch on Tuesday & Wednesday

Member Registration

If you are an ONA member, please be sure to log in to receive your member pricing for registration.

Special Discounted Categories Registration

For 50-year members, retired members, or nursing student non-members, please contact news@oregonrn.org and we will provide you the information needed to register at the reduced rate.

Cancellations

Cancellations must be received on or before April 20, 2026. An administrative fee of $50 will be deducted from all refunds. No refunds will be given after April 20, 2026. Written cancellations should be emailed to news@oregonRN.org.

Hotel Reservation Information

ONA has secured a block of rooms and parking at special discounted rates at The Graduate for Convention attendees traveling to Eugene. Please note that attendees are responsible for reserving and paying for their own lodging, but your ONA Constituent Association (CA) may have options for reimbursement to help offset this cost. Please contact your CA president for more information.

Room (before current applicable taxes of 13%) and Parking Rates:

• Graduate King:  $179 per night
• Graduate Queen Queen:  $179 per night
• Overnight self-parking: $15 per night
• Daytime parking (up to 8 hours): $5

Reservation Options – deadline to receive the group rate is Friday, April 3, 2026.

• Use the online reservation link here
• Call the Hotel directly at 541-342-2000 and refer to the group name "Oregon Nurses Association 2026 Convention" or the group code "92J"
• A valid credit card number is required to secure a room in this block, along with a first night's deposit, refundable up to 2 days in advance of arrival.

House of Delegates (HOD)

• Learn how to become a delegate & see important deadlines here. Delegates must register for the 2026 Convention & House of Delegates, although there is no fee associated with the House of Delegates, only the continuing education aspects of convention. 

Submitting Bylaws Amendments: Members can submit bylaws amendments. Learn more about that here. 

Submitting Resolutions: Members can submit resolutions. Learn more about that here. 

Following the 2024 HOD, member delegates provided extensive feedback on the process for submitting and considering resolutions. In response, a member workgroup was convened to review best practices from other unions and to gather input from ONA leaders, including cabinet members. Based on the principles of transparency, efficiency, and fairness the workgroup developed a new resolution process that was adopted by the Board of Directors. 

Important Timeline for Convention & House of Delegates

• November 1: Registration opens and...
  • Deadline to become an ONA member or Power in Member to be eligible to become a delegate if you are a newly organized unit without a first contract.
  •  Call for research posters opens
• December 19: Delegate nominations open
• January 5: Bylaws amendments submission portal opens
• January 26: Resolution submission portal opens
• February 9: Deadline to submit research posters
  
• February 10: Deadline to submit bylaws amendments
• February - March: Bylaws committee meets to review bylaws
• February 16: Delegate nominations close
• March 1: Deadline to submit resolutions
• March 5-6: Board of Directors meets to review resolutions
• March 16 - April 7: Cabinets meet to review resolutions (specific dates pending)
• April 15: Delegate packets sent
• Late April: Delegate forums (specific dates pending)
• April 20: Convention & House of Delegates registration closes
• May 4 - 5: Convention
• May 6: House of Delegates

Keynote Speakers

Linda H. Aiken, PhD, FAAN, FRCN is Professor of Nursing and Sociology and Founding Director of Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, University of Pennsylvania. She has authored over 400 scientific papers. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a former President of the American Academy of Nursing. Dr. Aiken won the Codman Award from the Joint Commission for utilizing performance measures to demonstrate relationships between nursing care and patient outcomes. She co-directs Magnet4Europe, an EU-funded intervention to improve clinician wellbeing and patient outcomes.

A sought-after presenter and prolific author, Jennifer S. Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, serves as the 38th president of the American Nurses Association. In this national leadership role, Mensik Kennedy boldly advocates for the nation’s 5.5 million RNs. In 2023, she was named by Modern Healthcare as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare.

Mensik Kennedy is a sought-after presenter and prolific author based on her insights about and experience involving key nursing issues. Her books include Lead, Drive, and Thrive in the System, 2nd edition, and The Nurse Manager’s Guide to Innovative Staffing, 2nd edition. She co-authored Lead like a Nurse, A Nurse’s Step-By-Step Guide to Transitioning to the Professional Nurse Role, and The Power of Ten, 2nd edition, and contributed a chapter to The Career Handoff: A Healthcare Leader’s Guide to Knowledge & Wisdom Transfer across Generations.

Prior to her presidency, Mensik Kennedy held key leadership positions within the nursing profession, including serving the American Nurses Association as Treasurer, Second Vice President, and Director-at-Large. She also served as President of the Arizona Nurses Association from 2007 to 2010. Additionally, Mensik Kennedy held the role of governor of nursing practice for the Western Institute of Nursing in 2010-2014.

Mensik Kennedy earned a PhD from the University of Arizona College of Nursing with a focus on health systems and a minor in public administration from the Eller College of Management. She holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix and a BSN from Washington State University. Mensik Kennedy also earned an ADN from Wenatchee Valley College-North. Prior to assuming the presidency of American Nurses Association, she was an associate clinical professor at the Oregon Health and Science University School of Nursing.

Mensik Kennedy was inducted in 2014 as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She has been recognized as Alumna of the Year by both University of Arizona College of Nursing and Washington State University College of Nursing.
 

RANDI WEINGARTEN is president of the AFT, a union of 1.7 million teachers; paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; higher education faculty and staff; nurses and other healthcare professionals; local, state and federal government employees; and early childhood educators. The AFT is dedicated to the belief that every person in America deserves the freedom to thrive, fueled by opportunity, justice and a voice in our democracy.

Prior to her election as AFT president in 2008, Weingarten served for 11 years as president of the United Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 2, representing approximately 200,000 educators in the New York City public school system, as well as home child care providers and other workers in health, law and education. Weingarten taught history at Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood from 1991 to 1997, and helped her students win several state and national awards debating constitutional issues.

Weingarten was included in Washingtonian’s 2022 Washington’s Most Influential People, and in 2013, the New York Observer named Weingarten one of the most influential New Yorkers of the past 25 years.

Weingarten holds degrees from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the Cardozo School of Law. She worked as a lawyer for the Wall Street firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan from 1983 to 1986. She is an active member of the Democratic National Committee and numerous professional, civic, religious and philanthropic organizations. Born in 1957 and raised in Rockland County, N.Y., Weingarten now resides in the Inwood neighborhood of New York City.

Benjamin Danielson, MD, is a professor of practice in the department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. Dr. Danielson is the director of a center named AHSHAY, which is committed to addressing tragedies like youth incarceration. He frequently speaks on the topic of equity in venues that include: the healthcare realm, academic settings and other relevant gatherings. 

Dr. Danielson is trained as a pediatrician, having completed medical school at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and his residency at the Seattle Children’s Hospital. He practiced for two decades in primary care in a community-based clinic and served as an attending physician in the hospital. 

Benjamin serves on a number of committees and boards at the local and national levels. He considers it a great honor to work within brilliant communities that know what they need, cherish their youth, and have too often been overlooked. 

On a personal level, Ben believes in young people. He believes there is an abundance of brilliance all around us and that we do not lack ideas or effective approaches to even our greatest challenges. Ben understands that the best solutions most often come from the wisdom of those most impacted by injustice. He holds outrageous certainty that cultivating relationships makes for a better world. Ben has benefitted from co-conspiring with brilliant youth and a movement of compassionate people. He realizes he is often the least useful member of the circles he joins and he is inspired - every day - by the children, families, communities and organizations with whom he interacts.

There is a profound joy that each of us is due. It comes from a deep regard for our ancestral paths, the powerful love of those who know us, a reflective understanding of our worth and purpose, a sense of dignity that is expressly offered and received, continuous discovery based on the unfading spark of curiosity, and the honor of the long collective journey.