Forty years ago, I proudly wore my nursing cap, a white dress, and shiny clinic shoes to my first job as a clinical nurse. I was determined to be the finest nurse since Florence Nightingale. I learned a lot about nursing, especially about the power of being a nurse at the bedside, and I treasured working with patients and my team. A year into working on my unit, I was tapped on the shoulder by my nurse manager asking me to represent our nursing unit on the hospital's Policy and Procedure Committee. I was honored to be on a Committee I didn't even know existed. I soon realized that I had the power to lead nursing practice at our hospital as a clinical nurse-and this started a memorable journey from the bedside to academia.
With guidance from more experienced peers, our committee elevated nursing practice guidelines, promoted health equity, improved patient outcomes, and decreased preventable errors. Over the years, I learned even more about the powers of being a frontline nurse. I eventually became a nurse manager and nurse executive, but I never lost sight of the vital innovation and leadership provided by frontline nurses. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, what I always knew about the significance of nurses became evident to the world. Nursing led the way, and clinical nurses made powerful decisions during such a critical time. As a nurse executive amid the pandemic, I encouraged, supported, and recognized their powers of observation, autonomy, critical thinking, accountability, intuition, and emotional mastery. It was with that realization that I knew I needed to further influence the power of the frontline nurse, but I was not sure where to begin.
Then I was once again tapped on the shoulder-this time by a nurse I admired in academia. She convinced me that I could turn my passion for supporting nurses at the bedside into educating nurses in the classroom. After many sleepless nights, I finally decided to put my nursing cap on the shelf and leave acute care for academia. It was a difficult decision to leave the hospital world along with the nurses I supported. Over the years, I tapped countless clinical nurses on the shoulder to unleash their powers-I listened to their questions, shared creative solutions, encouraged reflection and initiative, and taught them the importance of recognizing and treating the visible and sometimes invisible social drivers of health. I watched them advocate for patients, and we wrote history together during the pandemic. As I reflected on my years as a nurse leader, amid my committee involvements and the credentials after my name, I realized that what really mattered was my in-depth understanding of the power of nurses at the bedside and the importance of nurse-patient relationships.
As I embarked on my new journey into academia, I was grateful to receive notes from my colleagues who shared how I helped them recognize their power as true leaders in providing patient care. One nurse recalled something that I always told them: No matter what, there is always a patient at the end of my decision.
Today, through academia, I hope to continue to reinforce and strengthen nurses' abilities to use innovative strategies, implement change, and foster nurse leaders. Promoting reflective practices, active problem-solving, and team-based learning opportunities with nursing students support optimized care delivered at the bedside. I want to make sure that clinical nurses, as well as those in formal leadership roles, understand their influence in improving healthcare by participating in unit-based councils or shared decision-making councils, promoting the use of evidence-based practices, supporting team members to ensure optimal unit workflow, joining a professional organization, obtaining certifications, advocating for patients, among others. I want clinical nurses to know they have the power to promote health equity and improve the health and well-being of the population.
I thought I was entering academia without experience, but it turns out I was always a teacher after all. So now, I once again find myself determined to be the best professor since Florence Nightingale. However, this time, I will be wearing my academic regalia instead of my nursing cap.