When you think about it, May is an ideal time to celebrate Nurses Week. It's the heart of spring-a season that inspires a spirit of renewed growth and fresh potential in the natural world. And in that context, it's good to remember that growth wouldn't be possible without the seeds that were planted long ago.
How fitting, then, that we honor nurses past and present whose contributions have shaped our professional identity, forged new territory, elevated our practice, made the world a better place for one or many, and touched our lives. Their stories add to our collective history and create the rich tapestry of nursing art and science.
Although some of these great stories are published for all to share, most aren't-yet may deserve to be. Publication confers a measure of permanence in a transient world, even a type of immortality. The published word lives on as a legacy for present and future generations.
Perhaps you have a story that should be told. Have you considered writing it? If so, we'd like to read it. Your story might be a great fit for our Sharing column or one of our other departments.
I know that writing isn't always easy. Scores of doubts can overshadow even the best intentions. You might wonder if you have the writing skills to be successful, or if the story is even worth telling. Well, you'll never know unless you attempt it.
Sometimes just getting started is the biggest hurdle. Pick a time and place where you're comfortable and less likely to be distracted. Pretend you're sharing the story with a friend or colleague and then transcribe the conversation. Or, jot down a key point and build your narrative around it. You can always fine-tune it later.
Your efforts could be the beginning of a journal that you decide goes no further than a drawer. If nothing else, writing can be therapeutic. But you do have choices-you could eventually pass that journal on to a friend or relative as a precious gift that tells your story. Or-if you take the risk-you might open a future issue of Nursing and see your contribution there as an immortal gift to the profession.
I encourage you to take that risk!!
Until next time-
Linda Laskowski-Jones, MS, RN, ACNS-BC, CCRN, CEN
Editor-in-Chief, Nursing2010
Vice-President, Emergency, Trauma, and Aeromedical Services
Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, Del.