Bittersweet, Inspired and Grateful?

As 2023 winds down, I find myself writing this post with a smile, and admittedly a bit of emotion. As many of you know, Johnson & Johnson has been a proud advocate and champion of the nursing profession for over 125 years, as we understand that nurses are vital to functioning health systems, access to care and patient outcomes, and improving healthcare as we know it.?

I have had the absolute honor of leading our nursing advocacy and support strategy for almost seven years, powered by a dedicated, passionate and talented team across Johnson & Johnson.?It has been a privilege and a purpose-filled journey to lead this work, and it is with truly mixed emotions that I share the news of my retirement from Johnson & Johnson this December.?

You have taught me and our collective team so much. To make a broad-sweeping statement that is 3,000% true, nursing is an extraordinary profession of smart, determined, innovative leaders who bring grit, humor and determination to work every day, with a clear focus on delivering high quality, patient-centered care. When I started in this role, my learning curve to get up to speed on the issues and opportunities impacting the nursing profession was steep! Yet right from the beginning, so many of you were SO patient, taking my calls, answering the most basic of questions, and brainstorming together as our team worked to shape our nursing support strategy.???

Meeting so many of you and seeing you in action leaves me with a deep admiration for this profession – a profession with ENORMOUS untapped potential today. I’ve seen nurses transforming care delivery via new approaches that are better for patients and nurses, building new business models to improve health equity and access to care, starting new organizations to elevate and accelerate nurse-led innovation, taking steps to truly care for their teams and bringing joy back to the profession, leading measurable change in health systems, founding new companies, developing insight-based new technologies and devices, conducting ground-breaking research, inspiring and mentoring the next generation, and so, so much more. And every one of those innovations started with a nurse seeing a problem in healthcare and taking it upon themselves to develop and bring an innovative solution forward.??

Working alongside nurses has been the most meaningful, purposeful and fulfilling role of my career, and I know with certainty that Johnson & Johnson’s support for this extraordinary profession will continue to grow and accelerate. Nursing is and always will be part of our DNA at J&J.??

A few parting “asks,” as I think about where nursing and healthcare stand today and what is needed for the future.??

• Help change the narrative on nursing; while we need to acknowledge and address the foundational challenges that the profession faces, at the same time we can collectively do more to lift and amplify the positive stories about the skills, knowledge and IMPACT nurses have every day in communities everywhere.?
• Be an advocate for the nursing profession – reach into your local communities to talk with students and second career adults about careers and specialties in nursing and get them inspired –?we have resources to help support this!?
• Raise the voices of nursing where it counts –?vote, join boards and share your expertise, raise your ideas to drive change and create workplaces where nurses thrive. Not invited? That’s okay – just bring your own chair.?

• Champion nurse-led innovation – ensure that innovative ideas from nurses have a pathway to be raised, discussed, and trialed in the place where you work.?
• Mentor – this is the number one need I hear from so many nurses and nursing students.? Mentorship helps set new nurses up for success, taps into the robust knowledge of experienced nurses, and life-long mentorship helps people achieve the careers of their dreams.??

I thank you for your partnership, your friendship, your encouraging words and the many, many innovative ideas you have shared with me and our team.? The nursing profession is making progress in showing the world what you are truly capable of, but there is more to be done.? I will always be a proud and vocal advocate and ally for this extraordinary profession.?