The list of events that has made for uncertainty in the last few years is astonishing: Brexit; the Notre Dame Cathedral fire; the Ebola outbreak and public health risks, including the antivaccination movement and the measles epidemic; the shooting of Republican Congressman Steve Scalise during a practice game of baseball; pipe bombs sent by mail to target leading Democrats and the recent arrest of a Coast Guard officer who also targeted Democrats and members of the media; Confederate monument protests; the Pittsburgh Squirrel Hill Synagogue Shooting and another in California; the Thousand Oaks, California, bar shooting; the mosque shooting in New Zealand and other terror attacks, domestic and international; wildfires in southern and northern California; police shootings and police killings; General Motors plant closures and layoffs; a data breach affecting 500 million customers in the Starwood Guest Reservation System; the Yellow Vest protest in Paris; the US government shutdown and threats of a second shutdown; the Build a Wall campaign and the removal of children from their parents at the border, as well as the European Union refugee crisis; the Virginia leadership crisis; stock mark volatility; famine in South Sudan, Nigeria, and Somalia and the ongoing North Korea crisis; attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and politics in the post-truth era; federal and state preemption laws; the BP oil disaster and Gulf Coast natural disasters; earthquakes worldwide and a major typhoon in Mozambique; the Ukraine Crisis and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Add your own crises here, be they personal or pertaining to nursing: ___________________.
Did I leave enough room for you? If you had to condense your list to a one-word description, what would the word be? For me, it's turbulence! Why? Let me tell you. It seems that it is nearly impossible to go through a single day without hearing about alarming information regarding national security concerns, terrorism, or disaster.
The times we live in bring to my mind and memory the experience of being on a turbulent flight. While boarding everything seems anchored until the power of the pilot, air tower controllers, flight attendants, and the weather insidiously takes over. We're told to stay in our seats without exception. Beverage and food services (cookies, peanuts) are suspended. Gripping the amygdala are feelings of being unsafe, overwhelmed, and helpless while flying into the face of ongoing unpredictability. Courage, faith, and hope are what we call upon to get us through such times. When the pilot apologizes for conditions that are not in his or her control or sphere of influence, our fear, nausea, and other discomforts heighten.
The challenge before us is to utilize whatever defenses we have against the social conditions we have inherited. Jeffrey A. Joerres, chairman and CEO of Manpower Group, sums it up succinctly:
We are entering the Human Age where inner human potential will be the primary driver of innovations in our economy and of all major advances in our lives. Previous eras were defined first by raw material our ancestors bent to their will - stone, iron, and bronze; then they were characterized by the domains people conquered with ever improving technology - industry, space, and information. Now, it will be human potential itself that will be the catalyst for change and the global driving force - economically, politically, and socially. (Joerres, 2011)
When we do not fight with intention against becoming well adjusted to cultures that steal authenticity, we give passive and complacent permission for the destruction of the purpose, power, passion, and spirit of nursing. Preserving the dignity of humanity in general and specifically for those we lead, team with, and care for has never been more needed than now. Relationships may not scale, but culture does. At the very heart of being a good leader anywhere on earth is a good relationship (Scott, 2017). It is impossible to stand out and fit in at the same time so stand out for what you believe with great courage, daring ingenuity, faith, hope, and patience. That is what is required for a turbulent climate, when the only thing that is certain is uncertainty. And as they say in the movie Star Wars, may the force be with you!
REFERENCES