NAO Board

OFFICERS | MEMBER SPOTLIGHT | NEW MEMBERS | BY-LAWS

President's Message

Power of Nursing Is Found Everywhere
By Susan Brown, BS'70, MS'73, PhD'84
NAO President

Even on a vacation, I am reminded of the power of nursing to improve the human condition.

One of my favorite activities on vacation is reading non-work–related materials. So, while vacationing in late fall of 2007, I picked up a book titled "Water for Elephants," written by Sara Gruen. A small section of the book portrays an interaction between a ninety-three-year-old man in a nursing home and Rosmarie, one of his nurses. She accurately assessed his feelings of confusion, anger, resentment, and abandonment and was able to transform a potentially devastating situation to one of growth and well-being. Rosemary is portrayed as kind, nonjudgmental, and very knowledgeable about the process of aging. She powerfully influenced this man's life.

The book's plot has really nothing to do with nursing. The description of the relationship between the elderly man and the nurse, however, left me feeling proud to be one and, specifically, proud to be a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing.

In this issue of the NAO Newsletter, you will read articles that will make you proud to be a nurse—articles describing Bernice "Bunny" Owen's dedication to serving the youth of the Madison community, Kathleen Poi's nursing leadership at the UW-Madison's University Health Services, and Dori Brown's resourcefulness at immersing northern Wisconsin in the arts.

Also, you can read about this past year's activities, such as Homecoming 2007, where two hundred fifty alums and families gathered for brunch at Union South and then cheered on the Wisconsin Badgers as they beat Indiana. It was great fun to connect with nurses from all over and learn about their lives and the unbelievable work that they do.

The NAO Board has been working hard. We typically meet on the first Wednesday of the month. There are usually twelve of us at each meeting, and I am happy to report that, currently, there are three men on the board including Eric Bauman, Mark Hanson, and Jesse Kapusta. You may already know that, of the approximately 390 nursing students enrolled in the undergraduate nursing program, fifty-two of them are men. We need the number of male students to continuously increase within our profession.

I am truly proud of our board and all the hours of volunteer work they do to give the NAO a visible presence in the community. Unfortunately, one of our board officers, Jennifer Drayton, recently resigned from the board to pursue additional graduate studies. Her dedication and enthusiasm on the board will be missed. Also, Eric Bauman, who is our newsletter's managing editor, recently received his PhD from the UW-Madison after completing research in the School of Education's, Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Congratulations to both of you.

My hope is that all of you will have a wonderful 2008. If you have a Nurse Rosemarie story to share—one describing how your role or another alum's role in nursing has influenced the lives of others—please let me know. I would love to include your nursing experiences in one of the newsletter's upcoming issues. In the meantime, work proudly and play well and, of course ... On Wisconsin!