Simply the Best

Since January 2007 I have traveled the United States representing each of you and the profession of emergency nursing. During my travels I have sat at the table and collaborated with many other professionals on issues related to emergency health care. I have collaborated with physicians, pharmacists, mental health professionals, administrators, legislators, and regulators, to name a few, and each of these professions/groups brings its own focus (or focuses) to the table. As emergency nurses, the focus we have brought to the table has consistently been the patient. We are one of the few groups at the table with a singular focus, and neither our efforts nor our message has been distracted from or diluted by a competing focus.

In my opinion, 2 primary conditions enable us to be so singular in our focus. First is the fact that typically we are not paid directly by the patient or any third-party payer. Second, of all the health care professions, we spend more time with the patient than anyone else. These 2 conditions are both a blessing and a curse to the profession of nursing; however, I believe it is what makes nursing unique among the health care professions.

Many of you are aware that an annual Gallup Poll is conducted that lists 22 different fields of employment and asks the public to rate the honesty and ethical standards of the people in each field. The list includes nurses as well as doctors, judges, police, teachers, clergy, politicians, and lawyers, to name a few. Nursing consistently has been rated as number one since it was added to the list.1 This result is not an accident, and I believe it is due in part to our singular focus on the patient and the conditions that enable us to have that consistent and singular focus. Our patients (the public) trust us and respect us; we must work to maintain and strengthen that trust and respect.

I want to bring this message down to a personal level for each of you. It is great that I have had the opportunity to carry our mission of focusing on the patient to so many locations across the United States and to so many other professionals; but my question is, what are you as an individual doing to carry the focus forward? As an individual nurse, you have the greatest opportunity of all… the opportunity to reach out to the most important person, the patient.

Have you ever been asked why you became a nurse? Of course you have; we all have been asked that question at some time. But have you ever been asked why you stayed in nursing? Have you ever really thought about why you have stayed in such a demanding profession? If you had to tell me in one sentence why you have stayed in nursing all these years, could you? And what would your one sentence say? If you asked me, I would tell you that I have stayed in nursing because it allows me to make a difference in someone’s life when they least expect it and most need it.

I know how hard the work of an emergency nurse is, for I do it every day. I know how easy it is to lose sight of the difference you make, for I too sometimes am blinded. But I do believe that each of us makes a difference many times every day, even when we are tired, frustrated, or discouraged in our daily work. As emergency nurses, we touch more lives than any other profession. In 2006 there were 119 million visits to emergency departments across the United States2; this is an average of 227 visits per minute. That means in 2006 we had 119 million opportunities to make a difference and to ensure that our patients know it is because of them that we do what we do!

In closing, I would like to wish all of you a happy Emergency Nurses Day! And remember, never lose sight of the fact that you do make a difference one life at a time and that you are simply the best!