Joan Gilchrist Award

From a young age, I was made aware of a nurse’s value. I come from a long line of nurses: my grandmother, my mom, and eventually my sister and me. Neighbors often called my mom for guidance or comfort about health issues, and we were late for our plans more than once because she pulled over to help at an accident. A healthcare career was always my end game, but it wasn’t until I recognized the importance of nurses’ ways of delivering care that I decided to join the profession. The complexity of our work and the expertise we offer is often not highly visible, but once you see it, it can never be unseen. Our significant impacts are easily drowned out by the loud noise of health system issues and the associated challenges. The proximity we have to patients, families, and communities in our many forward-facing roles means we cannot look away from the consequences of being asked to do more with less. We also often become the face of health system problems to the public. But this proximity is also where our most important work happens – fostering relationships with others, offering dynamic healthcare that includes social and emotional needs, applying our knowledge in the context of the real world, adapting our care based on an individual’s priorities, advocating for patients, communities, and health system changes. Nursing has a lot to offer our world. I am proud to be a part of it.