Nursing lost a very special friend, advocate, and mentor when Sheldon Rovin, DDS, MS (Figure 1), died of cancer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 11, 2009. Shel is survived by his wife of 52 years, Nancy Gold Rovin; 3 children, Lisa, Suzan, and David; 2 grandchildren; and 2 sisters. Shel's influence on the development of leaders in nursing was deep and profound.
Through the years, hundreds of nursing leaders have attended the Johnson & Johnson (J&J)-Wharton Fellows Program in Management for Nurse Executives, which Shel founded more than 25 years ago. In addition, he touched many lives in his role as director of healthcare executive management programs at Wharton Executive Education and the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. He was also past chair of the Department of Dental Care Systems in the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
For many nurse executives who were called to attention by his collection of whistles while attending the J&J-Wharton Fellows Program, a unique and oftentimes career-changing experience awaited. Shel developed an innovative, action-oriented curriculum that challenged nurse leaders to think outside their comfort zones. He believed strongly in the capability and intellectual capacity of nurses. He believed that as key members of the "O Zone," nurse executives are in a unique position to redesign care and systems of care, with a focus on patients, not on care providers. He introduced us to concepts such as systems, idealized redesign, planning, creativity, and complexity science. He was our mentor in helping us look at ordinary things in extraordinary ways. His insistence on having chief executive officers attend the last portion of the program to begin to plan for implementation of new ideas was truly healthcare changing. In the annual reunion conferences, Shel introduced some unique and provocative thinkers to help the students continue to expand their thinking. David Whyte, the poet, and Mary Catherine Bateson, the daughter of Margaret Mead and the author of Composing a Life,1 were among the most unusual. They challenged students even further to apply unusual concepts such as poetry and literature into their leadership lives. Whether one resonated with or rejected Shel's ideas and teaching style, his goal was accomplished if an insight that would inspire better leaders was gained. All would agree that he challenged students to think, to think more broadly and to have confidence that the answers were not outside themselves but inside each individual's own leadership work.
Besides his teaching, Shel was an accomplished writer. He authored or coauthored 9 books and more than 90 journal articles and book chapters. His writing with Russell Ackoff, Redesigning Society2 and Beating the System: Using Creativity to Outsmart Bureaucracies,3 was especially meaningful for him because he admired Ackoff's work tremendously and considered Ackoff his mentor. Shel received many teaching awards and was the recipient of the American Organization of Nurse Executives 2008 honorary award.4
So far these words touch on his professional accomplishments, and for these, we thank him. There are, however, more than these accomplishments that we will miss about Shel. Shel Rovin was truly one of a kind. He was courageous in a unique way. He cared nothing about what people thought of him, and he cared everything about challenging people to think differently. He really understood what it meant to care for patients, which was the basis of his admiration for nurses. He sometimes told the story of teaching dental pathology residents the importance of talking with patients and families as they diagnosed disease from slides. Many thought this was totally unnecessary. Shel's belief was that they could not understand the importance of what they were doing unless they really understood how their diagnoses would touch patients' lives. This was patient-centered care and informed choice in action, and it was before its time.
There is also Shel the husband, father, grandfather, expert woodworker, and friend who will be missed. In these roles, his true spirit was revealed. He was a man who cared deeply about his family. He often lovingly referenced his wife, Nancy, he was so proud of his children, and he was totally in love with his grandsons. He was eternally optimistic about his Detroit teams, the Lions, and the Tigers. He was an avid runner and a man who loved carving pumpkins for Halloween. As much as he enjoyed a rousing debate, he also knew the power of silence in communication.
How can we honor the memory of someone who taught us so much? I believe Shel would insist on a few simple rules:
* Put your family first.
* Continuously challenge the status quo.
* Focus on others, not ourselves.
* Care for our bodies, hearts, minds and souls.
* Learn from everything we encounter.
It has been a privilege to be Shel's student, colleague, and friend. He is truly irreplaceable.
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