Last year, I attended numerous retirement parties for mentors and colleagues who I have admired for years. Each retiree celebrated 30-40 plus years in their career and had extensively contributed to clinical practice, leadership, education, and advancement of nursing science. Each event was unique and special, just like each person. The atmosphere was festive, but there were joyous tears, too. Colleagues shared funny stories and profound reflections on how that person had impacted them individually. These experiences made me reflect on the contribution of their legacy and how each mentor had impacted my career trajectory.
One of my mentors and role models is Katherine Brown-Saltzman, MA, RN. Katherine is a strong and compassionate leader who has contributed to nursing excellence through her 44 years of work on end-of-life care and ethics. She was the co-director of the UCLA Ethics Center and started programs like Circle of Caring, a renewal program for healthcare professionals in the Los Angeles area. She also co-founded the Ethics of Caring, a nonprofit nursing organization that has provided annual ethics conferences for Southern California since 1993 and a national ethics conference since 2011. The annual ethics conference brings together professionals from multiple healthcare facilities and creates a safe environment where everyone is encouraged to explore ethical issues beyond individual institutions’ culture. This type of forum stimulates discussion and the cross-fertilization of ideas. The conference also fosters robust dialogue, supporting those at the front-lines of care as they work to deal with complex dilemmas. At the beginning of my career, this conference helped me when I needed tools and resources on how to deal with difficult clinical situations.
As a brand new critical care nurse, there were numerous times where I felt stuck in taking care of patients who had a challenging course in their recovery after surgery. I didn’t feel comfortable speaking up to the interdisciplinary team about the ethical issues I encountered. When I brought it up to other nurses, I assumed they were hesitant and could not voice their concerns. These experiences propelled me to attend the annual ethics conferences to learn about the broader issues that face nursing. As I progressed from a novice to advanced beginner to a competent nurse, I became more empowered to speak up and champion skilled communication and true collaboration in my unit. During the same time, I volunteered for a research study to test an early ethics trigger tool and provide the researchers feedback in a four-hour debriefing. The information that I shared was later used to develop a tool that is now in the electronic health record at numerous hospitals to help nurses recognize early signs of ethical dilemmas and suggest helpful interventions.
Two years into my nursing career, I ran into Katherine inside the hospital elevator. It was just the two of us, so I took a deep breath and pitched her my elevator speech. I told her that she was my hero, and I had attended the ethics conference, which helped me grow in my advocacy role as a nurse. Katherine took the time to get to know me, and she noticed my passion for nursing. She invited me to join the conference planning committee as she was seeking additional bedside nurses to be involved in the planning. After two years on the committee, Katherine asked me to join the board of directors for the Ethics of Caring and contribute to the growing efforts of shifting the local conference to the national forum.
Katherine’s presence in my life opened many doors of opportunity. I was asked to co-facilitate a session on Leading Change From the Bedside with Dr. Laurie Badzek, Sigma member and past Director of the ANA Center for Ethics and Human Rights. Two years after, I was invited to present on Ethical Decision-Making for an American Nurses Association live webinar during Nurses Week in Washington, DC, USA. This webinar attracted more than 10,000 registered attendees from 34 countries!
I continue to learn from Katherine about promoting ethical practice and nurse resiliency. I try to highlight the detrimental effects of moral distress and encourage nurses, especially new graduates, to speak up when they notice a problem or when something doesn’t feel right. My journey has led me to co-facilitate other important topics, such as Helping Nurses Stay Engaged, Communicating Effectively and Ethically Through Social Media, and A Moral Psychology Perspective to Support Nurses’ Ethical Decision-Making.
Sometimes we think of mentoring as something very formal. However, Katherine and I never sat down and agreed to a “contract.” Our mentoring had a quality of flexibility and development that found its way through openness and general intentionality to share with others. This type of relationship has been a win-win for us—where both mentor and mentee learn from each other and inspire one another. Katherine’s legacy continues to grow and multiply because she has touched the lives of many, including myself, who carry forward our learnings and pass it on to a new generation of nurses.
How do we create a legacy when the median tenure for millennials is 3.2 years? Building a legacy might be a lifetime endeavor, but the real value we add to the people around us is during the journey. To start, bring your whole self into the present moment, connect with others at a personal level, and show a genuine interest in what your colleagues have to say. Second, focus on mentoring and lifting others, no matter where you are in your journey. Finally, reflect on how you demonstrate the six core ethical values—trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship—in your daily life. Shannon Adler, a prolific author, said, “Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.”
Here are three questions to help you reflect on your legacy:
- Are you a mentor to someone? Do you inspire and contribute to their growth?
- Do you lift others up? Do you inspire others to think or act in new ways?
- Are you doing meaningful work and creating a platform for others to do the same?
Consider attending the virtual National Nursing Ethics Conference on 6 May 2021, where attendees will reflect, share, and learn in an engaging experience to renew their energy and spirit.
Anna Dermenchyan, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, is a Director of Quality in the Department of Medicine at UCLA Health. She is a member of Sigma’s Gamma Tau at-Large Chapter. She is currently working on her PhD at the UCLA School of Nursing, Los Angeles, California, USA.