Transitions Are All Around Us (from the AMSN Blog)
The feeling of Spring is in the air! Looking out the window, you start to see new life in the world all around us. For me, the trees and flowers are starting to bloom-which means warmer days are on the way. As the world is transitioning around me, I start to consider the impact of transitions we experience as nurses.
During our nursing career we have many transitions, but some of them are harder than others. When you think back on changing units or organizations, there are many great friends we have left, like our mentors, our peers, educators, those who were in orientation with you, and the formal and informal leaders who left an impact in your life.
On the flip side, change can bring about new challenges, promote growth and expansion of your skills, a new environment, and the opportunity to meet new people.
Transitions can be hard. Some of us struggle with change. This can be a change of environment, support systems, patient populations, and we just want to keep everything the way it has always been. Others of us thrive on change. We look for new opportunities frequently. We are excited by the unknown and the challenge that comes with learning new things.
Throughout my career, I have fallen into the latter category, which involves taking a leap of faith, and a few calculated risks. It has also meant that I have been able to work with a lot of great nurses and great nurse leaders throughout the years. If I could, I would take all of them to each job I have had, but that is not possible. So, I have taken the good things I have learned from each of these relationships and incorporated them into the nurse leader I am today.
We need to remember those that struggle with change will need our support and understanding. Also, we need to support those that seek change. We can’t view it as they are leaving us, but rather they are taking the best of us with them into their next adventure.
AMSN has been through its fair share of transitions throughout the years. Some have been positive, and others more challenging. AMSN was able to pivot their convention in 2020 and 2021, to a virtual platform. Now we have been able to offer a hybrid option for convention, to provide more learning opportunities for our members.
The pandemic has created an environment where nursing had to look at technology and how to incorporate creative solutions into our practice, which includes virtual nursing. AMSN is looking at ways to move virtual nursing options into our educational opportunities and supporting MSNCB on a virtual nursing certification, which will be available in 2023.
These are just a few ways AMSN has been able to adjust our strategic plans to meet the needs of the ever-changing landscape of medical-surgical nursing. As we move forward in 2023, more transitions are bound to be right around the corner.