In 2016, I received the AMSN Convention Grant to attend in Washington, D.C. This was a generous award that provided me with the opportunity to attend my first AMSN Convention, along with a $500 stipend for expenses. At the time, I had been a member of AMSN since 2009. I was a newly elected vice president and founder of our fledgling AMSN Florida Gulf Coast Chapter No. 223. We were just beginning to form our identity as a chapter, and I knew I needed support, inspiration, and connection to help shape our future. For me, the convention grant did more than defray costs; it opened a door to deeper engagement, national networking, and leadership development that continues to influence my work to this day.

When I applied for the grant, I made the case that as a member of AMSN since 2009, a certified medical-surgical nurse, and an active volunteer in professional nursing organizations, I was ready to do more. I have been involved in education, quality improvement, and research. But I needed a way to bridge all of that with the AMSN community so that I could bring national energy and expertise home to our local nurses and chapter.

The 2016 AMSN Convention gave me all of that and more.

For the first time, I was in the same space with hundreds of medical-surgical nurses who shared my passion for clinical excellence, evidence-based practice, and advocacy. The sessions were rich with real-world tools I could bring back to my hospital and academic classrooms — directly to my students. I had the chance to connect with AMSN leaders, ask questions, and find out how other chapters were growing, facing challenges, and engaging members.

Those conversations mattered. They helped me see that AMSN was the only professional specialty nursing organization addressing my professional identity as a medical-surgical nurse. AMSN was and is a living, breathing network of people who wanted to support each other and advance the specialty of medical-surgical nursing. It gave me the confidence to deepen my own volunteer commitments and to advocate for stronger AMSN visibility in our region.

After the 2016 convention, I returned to Florida with a clearer vision for how our chapter could grow. We began hosting local events, trying to recruit new members, and connecting more deliberately with the national AMSN office. I also began speaking more about medical-surgical nursing as a specialty where I had experienced a fulfilling career since becoming a registered nurse. Medical-surgical nursing is a destination for excellence enabling all clinical specialties and work environments. Medical-surgical nursing should not be primarily considered a stepping stone. That message resonated with me and locally with nurses who were looking for a place to belong.

That same year, I continued to serve on the AMSN Research Review Committee and as a peer reviewer for the MEDSURG Nursing Journal. The experience I gained from these roles and what I learned from my first convention reinforced as vital to the growth and credibility of our specialty field. There are more medical-surgical nurses than any other specialty. The energy from the convention fueled my work in these roles and reminded me how critical each voice is in shaping the knowledge and standards of medical-surgical nursing practice.

Looking back now, nearly a decade later, being a recipient of the 2016 AMSN Convention Grant was a turning point in my professional nursing journey. It expanded my knowledge and network and marked the beginning of a new phase in my identity as a leader in AMSN. Since then, I have stayed deeply engaged in the organization, continued to support chapters, and helped cultivate new nurse leaders. The ripple effect of that single grant continues to this day.

That’s the power of professional support and networking. The grant offered me a platform to step into greater service and impact our community. It showed me that AMSN sees value in emerging leaders, and it empowered me to step forward with confidence, backed by the resources and encouragement of my national community.

I continue to encourage you as my colleagues, especially those who have not yet attended an AMSN Convention, to apply for the grant or refer a colleague to apply. You will step deeper into this opportunity to engage deeply and say yes to opportunity. Because one opportunity can shift everything.

There’s still time to apply for the AMSN Convention Grant 2025. Submit your application by Saturday, May 31.