The College of Nursing held the Annual Meeting for faculty and staff from all five campuses in Lincoln yesterday. The meeting was extremely well attended with some in-person in the Willa Cather Center on the Lincoln City Campus and some attending via Zoom. The energy was palpable! Many thanks to each of you for participating so fully and for the ideas and creativity you brought to the process. This does feel like a special beginning of sorts. Although the pandemic is not over, transmission rates are lower than they have been in a long time and we have access to vaccines and boosters. We hope vaccines will be available for children below the age of five soon, so the population can be more completely protected. We continue to address critical issues that include racism and structural disparities, the deepening nursing workforce crisis, and broader social issues such as climate change and rising economic disparities.
Despite the gravity of these concerns, I felt an optimism yesterday that will absolutely propel us forward. The people of the College of Nursing are highly talented, dedicated and focused on transforming the world to ensuring equity, health, justice and the opportunity for all to thrive. As I read through the accomplishments and awards received by so many faculty, staff and students yesterday, I was energized by the rich array of talents and the creative work everyone is doing. This is what being part of a university is all about; bringing original ideas forward, working with teams to turn those ideas into action, and building innovations that improve the world for all. Some examples related to research, some to educational innovations and some to cutting-edge clinical and population health practice.
We heard more about the work faculty and staff are doing on every one of the five campuses and were wowed by the many initiatives that support wellbeing for the college community, those that advance creative thinking and writing, our work to advance diversity and global health, and incredible work by the HEROES and Continuing Nursing Education Programs. The College’s Evaluation Program is helping us make data-based decisions about how to continue improving the many ways we work to achieve our shared mission and vision. Particularly compelling were the nominator statements for award recipients that told stories of everyday kindness, compassion, excellence and colleagueship. Great colleges of nursing are borne out of our daily work combined with achievements and building new programs that contribute to health in novel ways. Each of you, every day, prioritizes excellence.
I hope you all have some time for refreshing yourselves through vacations or staycations, or just some quiet time over the coming summer months! Thank you for all you do as together we ignite the future for even greater things to come!