I would like to open this message with an excerpt from a letter written by Florence Nightingale in 1872.1 Ms Nightingale wrote:
“For us who Nurse, our Nursing is a thing, which, unless in it we are making progress every year, every month, every week, take my word for it we are going back…. The more experience we gain, the more progress we can make.… A woman who thinks in herself: ‘Now I am a “full” Nurse, a “skilled” Nurse, I have learnt all that there is to be learnt’: take my word for it, she does not know what a Nurse is, and she never will know; she is gone back already…. Every year of her service a good Nurse will say: ‘I learn something every day.’”
It is striking to me how relevant Florence’s message is today, 136 years later! In her letter Florence challenged the nurses of her day to be continual learners. Today it is widely accepted that continual learning is a hallmark not only of leadership and emotional intelligence but of success as well. To be a continual learner requires that you also embrace growth and change, for one cannot learn and not grow, and you cannot grow and not change.
I often experience frustration because of the gap between my ability to rapidly envision a new and improved future and the seemingly slow pace at which it becomes a reality. This situation has been true in all areas of my life, including ENA. This frustration, however, is diminished when I take time to look around and see the progress that has been made. ENA is a big machine, and it cannot turn on a dime; however, I can assure you that we are making progress—we are continually learning, growing, and changing.
It is true that we have struggled, as many professional organizations have, during this time of economic downturn, with changing technology and with meeting the needs of members from multiple generations. However, despite these challenges, we have thrived as an organization. Our membership is now over 34,000, and each month we seem to hit a new record; we are updating our technology, we are finding new and meaningful ways to meet the needs of our diverse members, and we continue to break new ground in many other areas.
This year alone we have released the SBIRT tool kit, our online triage orientation program, and hosted our first online CEN review class; in addition, the BCEN is debuting the CPEN examination, and most recently, the Academy of Emergency Nursing has developed and launched a mentoring program. Some new territories we are venturing into include our work with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and our increased collaboration with other international emergency nursing organizations. There is no doubt that these are exciting times!
As an organization, ENA values continual learning, and we have embraced growth and change. We are successful and we continue to challenge the status quo as we journey toward a new and improved future.
In closing, I want to leave you with another excerpt from Florence Nightingale’s letter from 18721:
“And to nurse—that is, under Doctor’s orders, to cure or to prevent sickness and maiming, Surgical and Medical—is a field, a road, of which one may safely say: There is no end—no end in what we may be learning every day.”
What have you learned today? And are you prepared to learn what you must tomorrow? These are exciting times, but change is hard, and we must be willing to learn before we can see the opportunities before us.
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