Region Five
Director’s Report
Remembering
the Impacts of Our Practice
May 2005
My heart is full as
I say, “hello and how’s it going?” to all the Components within the newly
appointed Region Five. What a
privilege to have been chosen to represent you, your interests, and your needs
the next two years.
As a youngster
growing up as an army brat, my family moved 22 times in 20 years. I went to
three different high schools before my dad retired and we lived in a variety of
cultures and places – but one thing remained solvent always – wherever we were
- together – we were first and foremost a family. And coming ‘home’ –wherever it happened to be at the time – was
indeed a sacred thing.
Is it any wonder
then that I would choose as dynamic and ever changing career as a
perianesthesia nurse? Are we not also a
‘family’ bonded together with a common purpose – the safety, integrity and well
being of our patients, our practice, and our colleagues? Should that not also apply to the components
within our regions?
That being said, I
need to share as well that Spring is my favorite time of year – when else can
you experience the first blush of a rose, a newly emerging crocus and daffodil
– and the excitement of the birds returning to their nesting/home places.
As an analogy to my
own professional practice, the months of April and May are like coming ‘home’
and a re-affirmation of my practice and subsequent responsibilities. How gratifying and satisfying to see friends
and colleagues during April’s National Conference – sharing and learning and
growing to meet the demands and expectations.
How much more of sacred trust can there be than the presence and caring
of learned colleagues and peers in perianesthesia practice? How re-vitalizing it is to see the wonder of
our practice through new perianesthesia nurses’ eyes? How re-affirming it is to be able to discuss challenges and
potential solutions with old friends and new resources!
As I looked around
me – I think it hit me most in the Representative Assembly, seeing our
component and national leaders in action.
I couldn’t help but think that about all those years of nursing
practice, research, experience and progress – all present and encapsulated in this
dynamic and thriving organization- and it belongs to all of us! We are a part of it and what an enormous
impact that has for us as nurses.
After April, how
much more prepared, re-energized, and educated I am after a week at conference
– studying ad preparing, re-focusing my energies to best know the national and
regional standards and trends. I return
with an arsenal of information – valued data to apply to my own practice and
share with my facility- and ideally, be able to make a difference for our patients
and our staff.
The reason I so love
the month of May is because celebrating National Nurses Week is the perfect
postscript to celebrating National Conference.
My own heroes have always been nurses – and when I get
discouraged – I think of Florence Nightingale and her troupe of 38 nurses
heading off to care for 1800+ patients in the Crimea – and doing so
successfully by lowering the mortality rate so significantly that she made
nursing history! Now there was a person
not deterred by obstacles and challenges.
I believe we all have a little bit of Florence in each of us!
Realizing that ideas
and challenges impact all of you as components – how can I best be of help to
you? I am your ‘liaison’ – defined by
the thesaurus as ‘link to a personal and professional business’ for your members
and your society.
We are a region of
multi-faceted and multi-talented components - Alabama, Delaware, Florida,
Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington DC and
Virginia. I have witnessed this first
hand – but am interested in what your goals and strategic plans are for your
individual components. I also encourage
you to share with me – and your fellow components – your strengths and
talents. As a group we can encourage
and mentor each other to have many of the same types of successes – by the same
token – I believe we can equally share, support each other in our challenges or
‘interrupted successes’.
Having had the chance to meet many of you – I value your input, ideas, and information sharing. I would like to see us as a Region define 3 short term goals and 1 long term goal over the next 2 years. Please email me your ideas and needs – and I will compile and prioritize them to send back to you. As a result, perhaps our next communication can be a summation - “Hot TOPICS from Region Five” – highlighting your strengths and identifying your needs. I can best then form a plan to help us meet them.
A primary goal for
me – aside from our being accessible to each other - would be to compile this
information and get it back to you as soon as possible.
A second one would
be meet with you at National Conference as a group to discuss/share progress
and pool our resources. A number of you
have asked that I attend your Annual Board Meetings and/or Conferences. I have a commitment to be attending the
ASPAN Education Provider Committee Meeting on October 1-2, however, will make
every effort to come to any other of your Board Meetings/member meetings
throughout the year. Please field your
queries/schedule needs through the National Office so that every effort can be
made to coordinate/meet your request.
To date, I have agreed to attend the Georgia Component’s meeting the
weekend of Sept 24th.
Sincere thanks for
dedication and support of your components and remember, that, in the words of John Maxwell, “A candle never diminishes its own flame by
lighting another.”
Sincerely,