Empowering Texas Nurses to Advance the Profession

Dear TNA Members and Nurses:

Taking a moment at the end of this week to reflect upon our chosen profession; I think how grateful I am to be counted as a nurse even though I have not been on the front line like so many nurses who have risked their lives during this Covid-19 Pandemic. Nonetheless, I take great pride in my profession and the nurses who make NURSING what it is today—a most trusted profession!

As a seasoned nurse (that means I’ve around about 45 years), I knew when nurses were called upon to step up for the cause (Covid-19), there was no doubt in my mind, that nurses would step up.  Nurses are in fact a dedicated profession of caring for people who give of themselves to the one in need, be he/she a child, young adult, adult, or seasoned adult with physical, psychological, emotional, or spiritual needs. Nurses continue to demonstrate what few other professions can boast: both the elements of science and care (nurture). These are well blended into knowledge, skills, and action that make a difference for those in need. During this pandemic, nurses have made a difference here in Texas and for the world. Thank you!

As President of District 4, it has been my honor to work with some outstanding leaders in our profession. Through their leadership and passion for nursing, District 4, reached out to over 10 hospitals in the Dallas area. OPERATION COFFEE BREAK helped us recognize at least one nursing unit per hospital to thank the nurses for their dedication and sacrifice. A big shout out to Amy McCarthy who spear-headed this effort and to the D4 leadership board for agreeing that D4 would financially support this effort. Many of the deliveries were just in time for Nurse Week 2020 celebrations.  One of our own district members (Todd Bailey) made certain his nurses had a package delivered from White Rock Coffee and he covered the cost! The coffee shop did a suburb job with the deliveries. One of my personal friends was so impressed with our efforts, she dropped off a monetary gift as a contribution to D4 to reimburse us for some of the costs associated with OPERATION COFFEE BREAK. I would say it was a great success and has the potential to become an annual event.

The world has changed a bit since I entered nursing in the mid-’70s and so has nursing. Nursing definitely for the better. We’ve advanced to a level of the most trusted profession. Now as we look into the future let us be like our nursing founder, Florence Nightingale who in the 1900s empowered our profession by making sure nurses were “no longer scorned but instead admired and revered for the important and difficult work they do.” This year, THE YEAR OF THE NURSE 2020, let each of us take time to thank another nurse, to encourage him/her, to empower them to continue to advance nursing in Texas and around the world!

HAPPY YEAR OF THE NURSE 2020

NATALIE D. GARRY, RN, MSN, GNP-BC

President, District 4

TEXAS NURSES ASSOCIATION