Editor's
Note
Use
your influence
Nurses
possess the power to effect significant changes in the year
ahead
Carol Bradley, MSN,
RN, California Editor
December
18, 2000
As
this is our last issue of NurseWeek for the year,
I first want to wish each of you a wonderful holiday season.
Despite the hectic pace and the never-ending demands of
work and home, take some time to sit back and appreciate
the magic of the season.
It has been fun but challenging to have this opportunity
to "talk" to you every two weeks. At times, I have felt
an overwhelming sense of responsibility to influence you
in a positive way. It is not always easy, but I appreciate
all the feedback-critical as well as complimentary-in response
to our editorial efforts. It helps us move forward and challenge
ourselves to constantly improve.
As
a company to work for, I have enjoyed NurseWeek immensely,
and like the excitement of learning the new business of
publishing. I am honored to work with a group of people
that holds nursing in such high esteem and that understands
what it is we do. I can assure you that NurseWeek
and its editorial team are dedicated to serving the nursing
profession.
I
predict that the year ahead will be a defining one. Health
care faces an endless list of challenges, first and foremost
of which involve nurses, or the lack thereof. As all eyes
turn to nursing, I hope we bear up well under the scrutiny.
Nationally,
major nursing organizations are struggling to address the
many challenges that confront the profession. Most are so
caught up in their own issues that they have little energy
left to work collaboratively to lead nursing into the new
millennium. Within health systems and hospitals, nursing
leadership is struggling to respond to the financial challenges
while sustaining the core needs of a professional nursing
staff. Everyone is desperate for nurses.
On
an individual level, each nurse has some important choices
to make. Now that you are in demand and have greater individual
influence than in the past, use your reestablished power
carefully and strategically. Here are some areas that could
use your influence:
For
starters, let's focus our energy on building long-term salary
growth into our compensation systems, so that nursing can
be a career with long-term potential.
Next,
let's invest locally in our educational systems to develop
our future workforce, instead of sending recruiters to foreign
countries to raid them of their badly needed nurses. Don't
forget to guard against the "make some cheaper and quicker"
tendency.
Let's
also get involved in helping our health care system respond
to the financial challenges in ways that do not erode the
quality of care and the work environment. We need to contribute
to cost control in a positive manner. Most important, choose
carefully who you work for and assess their values and priorities.
Once your decision is made (or reinforced), give them everything
you can.
I
have heard physicians and nurses called the "fatal providers."
It means that although you may not close beds or limit access
because you don't have a technician or a therapist, you
will close beds without nurses and doctors. Nurses are essential
to the delivery system, more so than ever.
So,
give your loyalty and your commitment to those you work
with, as well as to your patients. It will make next year
feel a lot better.
