Fifty years holds volumes of history.

Professional member associations such as ONS are built on collaborations: between members and members, members and staff, staff and staff, and organizations and organizations.

In December 2015, I titled my ONS Connect column, “I Am Nurse, Hear Me Roar,” and addressed the outcry after a talk show host diminished Ms. Colorado, a nurse who was competing in the Ms. America competition that year. Nursing united its voice to educate the talk show host, the media, and the public.

The Olympic Games are about inspiration: individual and team athletic achievement, well-earned medals from rigorous and lengthy training, and underdog stories of joyful winners. Many of those lessons learned during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have meaning for us as nurses.

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic was a wake-up call for preparedness: it caught society unaware and highlighted gaps in virtually every modern-day system. With those lessons learned, when the United States started removing pandemic-related public health restrictions and we began a return to “normal,” experts from all corners of society started looking to what the future will bring.

“The Grief Crisis Is Coming.” So warned the headline of a New York Times editorial in which the author described the toll of losses from the pandemic on the individual level. She said that for each person who dies from COVID-19, nine loved ones have been left behind to grieve, according to the COVID-19 Bereavement Multiplier introduced by a professor at Pennsylvania State University. That number is conservative and does not consider the healthcare team that cared for those patients. 

Keeping up with what ONS is doing can be a challenge, given the communication overload we all experience. With so much information in our lives, personally and professionally, announcements can slip by without our noting them. Periodically I hear comments or feedback from members about something that has not changed or that did change—several years ago. To help you stay on top of all that’s happening, here are some details that you may have missed.

I don’t know how many times this year I’ve thought to myself or heard someone say, “When will 2020 be over?” The pandemic, social unrest, political polarization, and natural disasters have made 2020 a year in which many of us have wondered, “What else?”

A few weeks in July and August are known as the dog days of summer—the days where the heat makes us feel particularly laid back and lazy. I have always thought that these hottest days of the year, when even dogs languished from the heat, gave us a chance to slow down and offered a break from the intensity of work or school. It was a time for families to enjoy relaxing vacations and children to make memories of new friendships and adventures. I decided to Google the meaning of dog days and lazy days. I found that the term lazy days was similar to my thinking, but dog days has a different meaning. 

While awaiting the arrival of Hurricane Florence last month, I took the opportunity to purge the proverbial closets. One contained dozens of VHS tapes. I had no need to keep most of them, but one caught my attention. “Focus: Specialty Nursing” was produced by the National Nursing Network. The video referenced how changes in the healthcare system were resulting in increased nursing specialization and a growing number of specialty nursing organizations. Leaders of specialty nursing organizations who were attending the National Federation of Specialty Nursing Organizations (NFSNO) annual meeting were interviewed. The tape is not dated, but I am guessing it was produced in the late 1980s because Deborah Mayer, PhD, RN, AOCN^®, FAAN, ONS president from 1987–1989, discussed oncology nursing.

At two national nursing events in October 2017, ONS members received prestigious awards. You may have seen the news about them in your ONS Voice weekly emails. They did not receive these awards without the work of colleagues who prepared their nominations.