Great Nursing 100

Hey, my dear nurse buddies! I came home last night from a very stressful day with my boss to find a HUGE surprise in my mailbox. I knew that a dear colleague had nominated me for the Great 100 Nurses. I was so honored that she even thought to nominate me. She was RN previous manager of Labor and Delivery, now in risk management at large suburban hospital. What a sweetheart.

Well, last night, after stopping off to get some well needed chocolate and a bottle of red, I got to the farm's mailbox. There was a fat envelope in there, but it was too dark for me to see. Once I got inside, as I sat at dinner I thumbed through the mail. OMG. . . . it said GREAT NURSES 100 DFW.

I couldn't believe it, after 25 plus years. . . . numerous jobs and positions you all know. . . there it was. I shrieked and then just broke down in tears. I am so touched and honored. So much has happened through my family and career. So many highs and so many lows. I am just so humbled to have been chosen. It is a blind choosing, they don't know your name. Hahahahahaha....I know you are laughing, but that probably was a good thing!

I am even more honored, because there are three main nursing mentors in my life:

Dolores Alford, RN, PhD, FAAN she was the nursing leader and guru I met as she gave a talk about geriatric nurse practioners and nursing leadership. She was one of the first independent nursing consultants I had ever met. I asked her about a theme of her talk. She said, "Jeanette, the pioneers are the ones with arrows in their backs." She was right. As an outspoken innovator, I am not always a manager's delight. And I have the war wounds to certainly prove that. She later spoke and was featured on one of my videos in the All About Aging Series. Little did I realize how famous she was to become and be recognized. TNA now gives the Dolores M. Alford Lifetime Achievement Award. -but from my humble level I learned from her with that statement to grow with each experience. Pull out the arrows, toughen up, don't give up and try to keep paying it forward.

PK Scheerle, RN, CCRN is a nursing pioneer and founder of the very first Great Nursing 100. It happened in the 1980s down in New Orleans. Beth Mancini got the idea from her and brought it to Texas. I met PK again at a National Nursing Conference on geriatrics. She attended a lecture I was doing. We became instant colleagues. She treated me to a high powered lunch with champagne and chambord. She was the President of her own multimillion dollar nursing agency that she had started herself. -because, she believed that agency nurses should be quality, educated, CCRNs, dressed professional and acted professionally. American Nursing Services was a huge success. I was in awe of her entrepreneurial and professional businessskills as a woman. Simply, par excellence. I love ya PK. I am finally one of your Great 100.

Nancy Vish, RN, PhD now some of you who know me are going to be surprised that I put Nancy on here. But you know what? She rocks my nursing world. Nancy is a CCU nurse by trade, who became manager of CCU at Baylor and then CNO of Baylor Heart and Vascular. Nancy is a true pioneer of nursing excellence. She isn't afraid to test the untested. Do what hasn't been done. She amazed me with her investment in her people. She has a gift for bringing out the very best in her employees at every level. She empowers them with knowledge. She is now President of Baylor Heart and Vascular, and through her leadership, BHVH became one of the most fiscally successful Heart and Vascular hospitals in the nation. Others have been modeled on it. I thank Nancy for coahing me and teaching me better communication skills (I am still working on it), nursing leadership, and never to lose the most important gift of all, the importance of the bedside nurse. That touch. That extra effort. That is the magic. Thanks Nancy, you mean the world to me.

So, thank you to these three Goddesses. Without you, I would not be the nurse I am today. An educator, a proud bedside clinician with a huge heart. Okay. . .and sometimes still, a huge mouth! But I have learned from you. I am paying it forward. I hope that some of you can join me at the Great 100 Nurses Celebration on April 19th, 2009 (drinks at 6:30). It would be a pleasure to see you there.