Remembering Clair Jordan

We are sad to share the news that former TNA Executive Director Clair Jordan, MSN, RN passed away on September 24, 2022. Clair served as TNA’s Executive Director from 1978 until 2012 and was a fierce advocate for nursing. Our hearts go out to her family and friends during this time. A memorial will be scheduled for early November, and we will share that information when we have it.

Clair Beth Jordan, MSN, RN was originally hired at the Texas Nurses Association in 1973 as Director of Project GAIN, TNA’s federally funded project and research grant for advancement of minorities in nursing. In 1975, she was named Assistant Director in charge of TNA’s practice programs. When TNA’s Executive Director left in 1977, she stepped in as Interim Executive Director, and in 1978 began the longest tenure of a TNA executive director, serving until 2012.

Jordan not only served as the Executive Director of TNA, but also of the Texas Nurses Foundation, and was responsible for the administration of the RN/APN PAC. 

She was also the lead lobbyist for the association and in that capacity, TNA emerged as a player in the legislative arena. Jordan was part of a women’s lobbyist group who frequently met with Representative Billy Clayton, Speaker of the House. On one occasion, when he invited a group of male lobbyists to go pheasant hunting, she insisted the women also be invited. She attended and shot a pheasant that Speaker Clayton later had taxidermized for her. It sat in the TNA office for years.

With her leadership, TNA accomplished significant, and in some cases first-in-the-nation legislation. This included patient advocacy protection for nurses, safe harbor, nursing peer review, safe patient handling, and funding for nursing education. She and TNA were instrumental in ensuring APRNs were recognized and regulated by the Board of Nursing, including  passing legislation for APRNs to have prescriptive authority.

In 1988, Jordan led efforts to establish the NACES Plus Foundation, which grew to provide nurse aide testing in over 14 states throughout the country and provided a strong financial base for TNA.

She believed that not only nurses could benefit from TNA, but also the greater health care system. Her forward thinking led to the pursuit of various grants, which led to the creation of the Texas Peer Assistance Program for Nurses (TPAPN), the Nurse Oncology Education Program (NOEP), and Texas Health Steps.

Jordan served as member on various nursing, health, and women’s organizations as well as  state level committees of the Texas Department of Health, the Governor’s Task on Homeland Security, and Texas Society of Association Executives. She was active nationally, serving as a member of the American Nurses Association’s Congress of Nursing Economics, the Committee on Workplace Advocacy, and as a chair of ANA’s Commission on Workplace Advocacy.

Jordan was a guest speaker at numerous events, presenting on a broad spectrum of nursing, women, and health care issues.  She also contributed many articles, textbook chapters, and white papers on a variety of nursing issues.

She was professionally well-regarded for her knowledge and vision of bringing nursing education, practice, workplaces, and businesses together to improve the health care of Texans. She partnered with stakeholders to  remove education barriers that hindered nurses’ ability to smoothly articulate to higher learning; advocated for non-punitive cultures in the workplace so nurses could identify and learn from errors; and provided avenues for nurses to protect themselves and their patients. 

She was well versed in the nursing shortage and worked with various nursing and non-nursing organizations to identify ways to keep nurses in the profession and provide funding for nursing faculty so that more individuals could pursue a nursing degree

In 2015, Clair Jordan was one of the inaugural recipients of the Leaders and Legends of Texas Nursing award, an acknowledgement bestowed by TNA to honor those whose leadership greatly impacted the profession of nursing in Texas. For 35 years, Jordan impacted every part of TNA, expanding the core organization and creating new affiliate companies. 

A visionary with an analytical mind, she was able to quickly assess where nursing was headed and took advantage of opportunities for the benefit of TNA. Her keen leadership and the ability to work with other groups, including the Texas Hospital Association and Texas Medical Association, made it easier to negotiate legislative solutions with many successes.

Many of you knew Clair, and those who didn’t are aware of the work she did for Texas nurses. If you’d like to share your thoughts or memories, please leave them in the comments below.