President's View

In my first formal message as your president, I feel an overwhelming sense of pride as I am writing to fellow RNAO members. I am honoured and I am in awe of my responsibility to represent almost 52,000 RNs, NPs and nursing students. I was nervous when I approached the podium back in June for my first official presidential address.

I am proud of the fact that MPPs always answer the call to meet with RNAO members when we ask for their time. We should all take a moment to reflect on what this says about nurses and about RNAO’s influence. Put simply: our association matters.

As I write this, I think back to the words of past-president Dr. Angela Cooper Brathwaite, who once wrote about the concept of “service” and “servant leadership.” She envisioned her role as serving and meeting the needs of members.

I am writing this column just weeks after our in-person Annual General Meeting (AGM).

One of the things that makes me so proud to be a member of RNAO is the influence and impact we have when it comes to getting time with our elected representatives. Think about it for a moment. What other organization has the political clout that we have raising nursing and health issues?

This column marks my first official message to you as president. I am extremely proud and feel blessed to represent you. RNAO is an important organization, and my personal pledge to you is to bring my leadership, my energy and my commitment to continue advancing our important work. 

It’s hard to believe that this is my last President’s View column. While we have all experienced the concept of time differently during the pandemic, the past two years have flown by for me.

I’m currently sitting on my couch, writing this column with my son Greyson next to me, and a children’s movie on the TV in the background. I want to share a bit about my life, as a mom, a nurse and a director of care.

The past 18 months have been a time of great challenge for all health-care workers. There is virtually no sector within the health system that has been untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In my first RNJ column, I spoke about how much I was looking forward to connecting with some of the over 46,000 members that make RNAO such a powerful collective. One of the joys about being part of an association is the ability to meet, network and learn from each other.