ASBN Edition 40 : Page 6
President’s Message PRESIDENT’S FAREWELL KATHy HIcKS, RN, BoARD PRESIDENT This will be my last article, not only as president of the Arkansas State Board of Nursing, but also as an Arkansas nursing board member. My term of service is complete as of Oct. 2009. I was privileged enough to be appointed to two terms on the Board of Nursing. I could probably write a book about my experiences on the board. I was given an opportunity that very few people are given. I was given the opportunity to be able to serve not only the people of our state, but anyone who benefits from the nursing profession including the nursing profession itself. One really does not realize the weight and responsibility that goes with the mission of the nursing board. “To protect the public,”- everything we do at the nursing board has to lead back to those four important all encompassing words. Some of the decisions have come very easy; some not so easy. My goal when I applied for appointment to the ASBN was to make a difference beneficial to the people of Arkansas by helping to ensure they were being ministered to by competent, well-educated, professional nurses. I would like to think I have made a positive difference toward those efforts. Nursing for me has been both a vocation and a career. I have never really been able to visualize being or doing anything else with my life professionally. I truly love nursing. I have been a practicing nurse for 42 years. No, I am not older than dirt. I graduated from a wonderful three-year diploma program (when I was 20). I sat for and passed my nursing boards back when boards took two days (locked in a monitored room with paper and pencil) to complete. Sometimes I long for the days when nurses wore crisp white uniforms and starched caps. No one ever mistook nurses for any other group of employees. They were very recognizable and respected. Technology in health care has been a wonderful thing, but as with any advancement, there are gives and takes. Nurses, for the most part, have had to give up much of their patient contact time. The time when they are actually touching, assessing, reassuring and diagnosing their patient. I miss that one-on-one time I used to be able to share with my patients. Someday I may say, “I am a retired nurse,” but I will never say, “I used to be a nurse.” never be something I was. nursing is such a huge part of whom I am that it is not easily separated out. Over the last eight years, I have been fortunate enough to meet many wonderful people and make some lifelong friends. Nursing in Arkansas is alive and well! Some of our nurses are on the front lines working for regulation and innovation and for new ways to provide quality health care to the underserved and the noninsured. They are diligently working for the advancement of the nursing profession. I have been so blessed to be a part of that. I would like to thank everyone for allowing me to serve the people of Arkansas as a member of the ASBN. I know it has made me a better nurse and I hope it has helped make those of you in the profession one as well. I will miss you all. It will I will always be a nurse. I may choose not to practice my skills, but 6 501.686.2700
President's Message
Kathy Hicks
President’s Farewell<br /> <br /> This will be my last article, not only as president of the Arkansas State Board of Nursing, but also as an Arkansas nursing board member. My term of service is complete as of Oct. 2009. I was privileged enough to be appointed to two terms on the Board of Nursing. I could probably write a book about my experiences on the board. I was given an opportunity that very few people are given.<br /> <br /> I was given the opportunity to be able to serve not only the people of our state, but anyone who benefits from the nursing profession including the nursing profession itself. One really does not realize the weight and responsibility that goes with the mission of the nursing board. <br /> <br /> “To protect the public,”- everything we do at the nursing board has to lead back to those four important all encompassing words. Some of the decisions have come very easy; some not so easy. My goal when I applied for appointment to the ASBN was to make a difference beneficial to the people of Arkansas by helping to ensure they were being ministered to by competent, well-educated, professional nurses.<br /> <br /> I would like to think I have made a positive difference toward those efforts.<br /> Nursing for me has been both a vocation and a career. I have never really been able to visualize being or doing anything else with my life professionally. I truly love nursing. I have been a practicing nurse for 42 years. No, I am not older than dirt. I graduated from a wonderful three-year diploma program (when I was 20). I sat for and passed my nursing boards back when boards took two days (locked in a monitored room with paper and pencil) to complete.<br /> <br /> Sometimes I long for the days when nurses wore crisp white uniforms and starched caps. No one ever mistook nurses for any other group of employees. They were very recognizable and respected. Technology in health care has been a wonderful thing, but as with any advancement, there are gives and takes. Nurses, for the most part, have had to give up much of their patient contact time. The time when they are actually touching, assessing, reassuring and diagnosing their patient. I miss that one-on-one time I used to be able to share with my patients.<br /> <br /> Someday I may say, “I am a retired nurse,” but I will never say, “I used to be a nurse.” It will never be something I was. I will always be a nurse. I may choose not to practice my skills, but nursing is such a huge part of whom I am that it is not easily separated out.<br /> <br /> Over the last eight years, I have been fortunate enough to meet many wonderful people and make some lifelong friends. Nursing in Arkansas is alive and well! Some of our nurses are on the front lines working for regulation and innovation and for new ways to provide quality health care to the underserved and the noninsured. They are diligently working for the advancement of the nursing profession. I have been so blessed to be a part of that.<br /> <br /> I would like to thank everyone for allowing me to serve the people of Arkansas as a member of the ASBN. I know it has made me a better nurse and I hope it has helped make those of you in the profession one as well. I will miss you all.
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