Happy Fall, my favorite time of year. So many changes with the leaves, the weather, children returning back to different schools, hardly believing that your first born may be off to college. Changes are occurring within our region as well with the upcoming election for Treasurer and President-elect. I hope you find the time to vote as elections will close on 10/14. If you scroll back up, you will have the opportunity to have a voice and vote for the person you feel most deserving.
Another opportunity you may want to take advantage of is to visit our Members tab and sign in under "members login" to view the amazing zoom presentation we had in August. Zen Faulkes was fantastic with his helpful hints in creating an educational poster. You would not want to miss this, so feel free to log in and check it out. You will not be disappointed.
Nurse of the Year is a prestigious award the New England Region presents to a WOC nurse who has made a difference in your practice, or perhaps your career or even someone you feel deserves the recognition of making a difference. I remember my mentor Sharon Cassidy Evans who taught me so much, but mostly the importance of professional growth, having compassion and empathy for our patients, and helping me to strive to be the best WOC Nurse I can be. I am sure there is someone along the path of your career who has done the same for you. Consider nominating someone for “Nurse of the Year.”
I would be remiss if I did not mention our upcoming Fall Conference at Mohegan Sun October 20-21st. Don’t wait to book your room as rooms get booked pretty fast. Conference is FIVE weeks away and you would not want to miss the amazing content, speakers, networking, and chance to meet with your manufacturer reps to see what’s “new and improved.” in the world of wound ostomy and continence nursing.
Our fundraising mission is to support the Youth Rally to send a child to camp in July who has an ostomy. You will be seeing emails and social media posts to invite you to be a part of this wonderful undertaking. We ask you to bring a donation to the conference so we can raffle this off during our silent auction to support this worthy cause.
We talk about change and with this being my last Presidents message, it comes with such ambivalence. I have enjoyed serving you as your President and I hope I accomplished what I have set out to do, engage our membership, update our website and continue to recruit strong leadership to lead this amazing group into the next 2 years with excitement, changes and stability. I will pass over the reins of President of the New England Region to my colleague Mary Harris in October. She will serve you well!
Thanks for a great 2 years. Hope to see you all in Connecticut.
Donna Loehner RN BSN CWON
President New England Region WOCN