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______________________________________IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES & EVENTS
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Thank you, Mary Lou! It is with sadness and anticipation that I write this letter today. Sadness because I enjoyed working on the Board with Mary Lou Schmidt as President. I will miss the August meetings at her beautiful country home in Sebastopol with the ambience of fresh baked breads and French Roast coffee and the views of the countryside. She is the most gracious host and our Board meetings there were fun and very productive. As for her Presidency, Mary Lou has brought to the LGC a level of sophisticated organization that was missing from the Board meetings and the Chapter. At each Board meeting, she would produce a copy of the agenda to cover, and then proceed to cover it in an organized and expeditious manner. She was a skilled chairwoman, coaxing us to stay the course and reminding us about the agenda when we went astray. In all, she was the one who made the meetings timely, productive and comfortable. Mary Lou has always been willing to volunteer for organizational chores and we could always count on her to follow through. One of her legacies was producing an orientation package for each new Board member, which will be invaluable in the future. I remember reading Mary Lou's first message as President. She said, "I would like to invite you to consider Lambda Gamma as a vehicle to make the mission and vision of the Nursing Honor Society real on the local level". She has led by example. She has been one of the organizers and presenters for the original Research Seminar and has brought the knowledge of research based practice to the community staff nurse. She has also brought community members into STT through nominations for clinical excellence and elections to the Board. Mary Lou, it has been a joy to work with you on the Board and you will be missed as President.
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Chapter Officers for 2005/2006
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A Brief IntroductionI am a recent graduate of SSU FNP program. I also attended SSU for my BSN education. I guess you can say I am a new nurse, even though I have spent the last 8 years in pursuit of a nursing education. I started out as a hospital staff nurse, but an MVA in 2003 left me unable to work as a floor nurse. I went back to school and now, I am an FNP and looking for work (hint). Before realizing a life long dream, nursing, I worked in the restaurant business and owned and managed The Depot Restaurant in Calistoga. There I had a crash course in leadership and management. Even though I had managed restaurants before, it was very different when 21 employees and your own livelihood depended on the administrative decisions that you made. The experience was an invaluable lesson in productive multi-tasking and efficiency. At 50 years old, I gave it up and went back to school. My first love was biochemistry and my professor said I would have had a career if I had started a little younger. My second love was medicine. My father's aunt was the first woman in W. Virginia to become an MD. She was an American Indian and my mother and her aunt were WW II nurses. I wrote on my entrance letter to SSU that healing is in my blood, and since I have come to know the art of nursing, I can say that nursing is in my blood. I write with anticipation as Lambda Gamma's new President. Like many of you, I was invited into STT while in the BSN program. I thought it would be cool to wear the honor cords in the graduation procession. It was, but I also learned about an organization that was a vehicle for change in the nursing world and I was sucked in by the enthusiasm and commitment of its members to Nursing Scholarship, Leadership and Excellence in the Nursing Profession. I believe that an Organization is only as successful as its members' commitment to its mission. Because you are members, I am assuming that you are interested in promoting NURSING as a profession. Frankly, I'm afraid the only way that happens is to compete w/ the big boys - - Medicine - - for the limelight. These days that only happens by media coverage, or the BIG headlines, and I don't mean Strike coverage. For us, research could be that vehicle. Wouldn't it be great if a nursing research study was headlined in the Science Section of the New York Times? Except for the Chocolate research project, the only time I have seen Nursing Research publicized is in Nursing Journals. Can Nursing become a profession on a par with others? Only if the profession can stand-alone and compete. Nursing as a profession is as credible, academically rigorous, independent, and worthwhile as physical therapy, psychology, and medicine. Why aren't we there yet? June 10 th, our chapter of STT, in collaboration with the NBNHE, began a series of research workshops, designed to instruct and motivate hospital nurses to become researchers. I am proud of our research team for expanding our agenda out into the community with this project. I plan to be involved in this process and support this project. This is a pivotal moment for our chapter and for nursing. Are we ready to push the envelope a little to gain a lot? Please join me in supporting our research team. Plan to attend the research workshops, be informed, so we can be the informers. Thank you for your continued support. I look forward to working with all of you in the next two years. KC Grigsby |
Conference on Evidence Based Practice a Success! On June 10, 2005 Lambda Gamma Chapter, in partnership with North Bay Network for Healthcare Education, presented a conference which explored aspects of Evidence Based Practice. About two thirds of those in attendance were from a variety of clinical settings, and the remainder were from academic settings. All were overhelmingly positive about the presentations and discussions. The presenters included: Sandra DeBella Bodley RN EdD, Deborah Kindy RN PhD, Kathy Hoare RN PhD, Eira Klich-Heartt RN MS, Laural Mastro RN MPH, Bruce Sanborn RN BSN, and Mary Lou Schmidt RN MSN. This was the first in a series of courses designed for nurses from all specialties to assist them to understand how Evidence-Based Practice is impacting their practice. Based on comments and feedback from this conference the planning committee of Lambda Gamma is in the process of developing the second course in this series. Be on the alert for future information about this exciting project! Induction CeremonySigma Theta Tau Lambda Gamma Chapter induction ceremony was held on Saturday April 30, 2005 in the Cooperage at Sonoma State University. The event was well attended by new membership, community leaders, faculty, families and friends. Mary Lou Schmidt, president of the chapter presented an articulate and warm welcome. New membership included sixteen undergraduate students, three graduate students and six community members. Mary Lou and the board members collectively facilitated the presentation and induction of new members respectfully. All inductee made an insightful statement about themselves to the group. Additionally, awards were presented to five outstanding community leaders. The room was very festive with fresh flowers and proud guests. Refreshments including a decorative cake were served following the ceremony. New Inductees for Spring 2005
Awards Excellence in Clinical Practice Excellence in Nursing Leadership Excellence in Nursing Education
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