Spring: New Opportunities to Grow, Serve and Mentor
Spring is a season of new beginnings and opportunities. As the weather shows promise of leaving the snow and ice behind, fearless early spring flowers bravely push up through a layer of stubborn snow. Each New Year, we begin with resolutions that are all too often discarded before taking root. But spring is a different matter. Spring is a season of hope, of renewal, of grand plans and of endless possibilities.
For some, spring brings the chance to start fresh with an annual spring cleaning when we cast out the heavy trappings of winter and look forward to beginning anew with clean starts and a new sense of lightness and hope. This spring brought me an opportunity to change from the role that I had been in for years and to embrace new challenges. Changing roles and moving from one office to another has made this editorial all the more real for me. For me, this is an opportunity for the ultimate spring cleaning: extending of the role of the certified nurse and allowing myself the opportunity for personal and professional growth.
Change is never easy, and moving to a new office has forced me to admit that I am somewhat of a “packrat.” But packing up my office and nearly two decades of material allowed me to reflect on how the past has enriched me and to ponder the challenges that lay ahead. I was amazed at the quantity of items that had to be sorted through. Were they to be saved to move with me or simply discarded? It warranted some serious consideration on why certain items had been saved at all. I admit that like a number of you, I save things because you just never know when you are going to want to see them again. Often I have parted with something only to find that I needed it later!
Sorting through decades of files and folders, tokens and trinkets has offered me a trip down memory lane. There were things I saved because of sentiment and personal significance. The little handbook "A Clinician’s Guide To Chronic Wound Repair" that Katherine Jeter gave me at a reception, before I ever attended a WOCNEP, will always be treasured as my first "text" about wound care. Other items were kept because they brought a smile as I remembered patients cared for and cared about. Some items held historical significance for me and others were simply dated; I am proud to say that they were discarded.
As I cleaned out desks and storage cabinets, I carefully evaluated each item and resolutely held to the rule that unless it had significant value, it would be discarded. I am sure that a "professional organizer" would have encouraged me to discard even more than I did. But no one else would have known the value of that thank-you card from a grateful family or the love behind an irreplaceable trinket with no monetary value. Amazingly, there were literally trashcans full of discarded items. Some discards were tools that I received immediately after becoming a CWOCN. At the time, they were highly treasured, but today in light of changes in technology and changes in practice, they are sadly outdated. It was fascinating to look back and remember those early beginnings. It was also freeing to discard items that were no longer relevant.
I challenge each of you to use this spring as an opportunity to literally and figuratively clean your own practice. Are there things you could be doing to enrich both what your certification offers you and what your certification allows you to offer others? Remember the energy and enthusiasm that captured each of us when we were novices? Nothing was taken for granted. Each new opportunity to give a lecture or mentor a student was exciting and maybe even a little scary. Maybe because it was a little scary, we worked even harder to be sure that things were perfect. Spring is time to recapture that energy and enthusiasm and take on new challenges. Spring is a time to spread our wings and soar just a little higher than we might have been able to last year. Make a commitment to capture those opportunities and bloom.
One of the new opportunities to consider this spring is to serve on a WOCNCB committee or even the board. As I complete my final year as WOCNCB President, I can honestly say that my service has been a series of opportunities to stretch my wings and fly. Each opportunity has been unexpected, and to be honest, just a little scary. Years ago, with the first Professional Growth Program Committee, and again with the initial Foot Care Committee, I questioned if I was the right person for the role and even if I had anything significant to contribute. When asked to consider running for the WOCNCB Board, I had the same questions and doubts. I would have never envisioned any of this for myself. However, because of mentors among us, I was encouraged and persuaded to consider each WOCNCB opportunity.
My mentors recognized that potential for a new beginning and a new direction. They saw the promise in an opportunity. Serving on a professional board has been an enriching experience for me, and quite frankly, has given me far more in terms of friends and experiences than I will ever be able to give back.
I am who I am today because of mentors who took the initiative to encourage me to grow and stretch a little taller. Now it is my turn. I am encouraging each of you to weigh the possibilities and embrace opportunities that are open for you. Join me in volunteering, and allow me to be your mentor. Consider all that board service will offer you and all you will be able to offer the board and those WOCNCB certified nurses who will follow in your footsteps in the years to come.
As a WOCNCB certified nurse, you have great potential. The key to the future is in your hands: Bravely open that door and welcome spring and a season of new opportunities.
Diana Gallagher, MS, RN, CWOCN, CFCN, CHT
WOCNCB President
