The annual convention of the National Nursing Staff Development Organization (NNSDO) is over, but it will remain in my memory for a long time. As NNSDO conventions go, it was not much different-there were excellent speakers, from the keynote to the closing and all the concurrent sessions in between. It never ceases to amaze me how much talent there is in staff development, judging by the many cutting-edge topics that were included in the program and how polished the presentations were by those individuals who responded to the "Call for Presentations."
The venue was great too-the Hilton in the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL. And it was fabulous seeing old friends and making new ones. The Journal for Nurses in Staff Development (JNSD) Editorial Board meeting was stimulating and productive.
All was the same as in other NNSDO conventions, with one exception. The recipient of the Helen Tobin Writers Award this year was a notable individual: Rosemarie Taylor, from Cooper City, FL. Rosemarie is a staff development educator with over 20 years of progressive management experience in health care. She is also a doctoral candidate in the Adult Education/Human Resource Development program at Florida International University in Miami.
Rosemarie is a first-time author, and she received the most prestigious award offered by the journal, named after Helen Tobin, a force in staff development. Helen was a coauthor of the first text devoted to staff development. She was instrumental in establishing standards of staff development practice, headed a staff development department that served as a role model across the country, and was a staunch supporter of both the journal and the specialty organization. Even in retirement, Helen continues to be interested in what is going on with the journal and with NNSDO.
Rosemarie accepted the Helen Tobin award with grace and humor. She told the audience that she had been cautioned by a professor in her doctoral program to improve her writing skill-she had a paper returned to her by that professor to rewrite! Rosemarie's winning article was titled "Addressing Barriers to Cultural Competence."
It was indeed a personal and professional pleasure to meet Rosemarie and to be able to award her with this honor. I look forward to seeing Rosemarie's work in the pages of JNSD for years to come!