Everyday Advocacy: Connecting nurses

"Diligent advocacy yields unexpected, outsized results."

Peter S. Gray, BSN, RN

We've all heard it before. "The bigger they are the harder they fall."  Our biggest, most creative, most thoughtful ideas are sometimes the ones that fall the hardest. But, with some perseverance, a fall can also be an opportunity for a good idea to shine.

Last year, I presented an idea to my employer before National Nurses Week. On a large map, nurses would place pins near the cities in which they had received their initial training. It was an opportunity to bring up fond memories and boost collegiality, as I was sure that more paths had likely crossed than we may have realized. The idea was rejected.

While sitting on the Arizona Nurses Association Convention Planning Committee, I presented the idea again. This time, the idea was accepted, expanded, and went statewide at the 2017 convention.

The lesson for us all: diligent advocacy yields unexpected, outsized results.