Guest Editorial On Course for the Future: The ENA Foundation Endowment Campaign Vicky Bradley, RN, MS, CEN, Lexington, Kentucky

W ' ha t course will nu r s ing take in the future? Will nu r ses define the posi t ive impac t of nu r s ing

care on pa t i en t outcomes, or will nu r s ing pract ice be- come nebu lous and unrecognizab le? Will we be able to demons t r a t e tha t pa t i en t s wi thout nurses will not do as well as pa t i en t s wi th nur ses?

Others are d i rec t ing the course of n u r s i n g ' s future by actively pos i t ion ing themselves to become major players in health care. They are cha l lenging the old medica l sys tem and looking for ways to provide cost-eff icient care tha t m a y or may not inc lude nurses .

What should nurses be do ing? The ENA Founda- t ion bel ieves there are three ini t ia t ives tha t will put e m e r g e n c y nurses on course for the future: ou tcomes research, leadership development , and p reven t ion projects.

Outcomes research Nurses have tradit ionally shied away from research. Research may be inc luded in our job descript ions, bu t it is a low priority. It should be our No. 1 priority. Ev- ery nurse should be involved in research. Research should b e c o m e so ingra ined in our everyday pract ice tha t we canno t imag ine nu r s ing wi thout it. Only wi th research will we be able to suppor t our belief tha t nu r s ing care makes a difference.

Health care s t ra tegies and pract ices m u s t be tes ted to de te rmine which measu res make a differ-

ence in improving pa t i en t outcomes. Research, not cus tom or the search for profit, m u s t de te rmine nurs- ing practice.

Leadership development A second course the Founda t ion r e c o m m e n d s for the future is educat ion . C h a n g i n g from a pract ice based primarily on cus tom and the medica l model to a prac- t ice based on nu r s ing research will not be easy. Nurses who provide direct care know wha t the research

Ms. Bradley is systems coordinator for the Operating Room and Emergency Department, Albert B. Chandler Medical Center, Lex- ington, Kentucky, and section editor for the Innovative Informatics column for the JOUP~AL OF EMERGENCY NURSING.

ques t ions a r e - - t h e y see what is working and wha t is not. Through educa t ion they can obta in the necessa ry skills to incorporate research into their daily practice.

We also n e e d nur ses who are prepared to a s sume leadership roles in heal th care policy. Nurses m u s t actively seek to be represen ted in dec i s ion-making act ivi t ies in their various roles at the local, state,

T h e p u r p o s e of t h e e n d o w m e n t c a m p a i g n is to s e c u r e f u n d s to e n s u r e t h e p e r p e t u i t y of t h e F o u n d a t i o n . This m o n e y wi l l n o t b e s p e n t ; it w i l l b e i n v e s t e d a n d i n t e r e s t f rom t h e i n v e s t m e n t s w i l l b e u s e d for s c h o l a r s h i p s , r e s e a r c h , a n d s p e c i a l pro jec t g r a n t s .

and nat ional levels. Nurses need a broad unders t and- ing of heal th care sys tems, informatics, politics, and fiscal affairs to prepare for these leadership posi- tions.

Prevention projects Finally, the Founda t ion r e c o m m e n d s the support of creative publ ic educa t ion projects. The real benefi ts and cost sav ings will be realized w h e n effective pro- grams convince the publ ic to adopt heal thier life- styles. Public educa t ion programs can lead to a

J EMERG NURS 1995;21:369-70 Copyright �9 1995 by the Emergency Nurses Association. 0099-1767/95 $5.00 + 0 18/61/66658

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dec l ine in i l lness a n d injury and p romote a h igher level of wel lness .

Every nurse has i d e a s for improv ing pa t i en t ca re or hea l th care de l ivery sys tems . We canno t afford to w a s t e t ime and e n e r g y compla in ing abou t the i nade - q u a c i e s of the cur ren t hea l th care sys tem. Compla in- ing will no t m a k e our future bet ter . Wil l ingness to m a k e c h a n g e s and to try n e w projec ts may.

On C o n e for the Futm'e "On Course for the Fu tu r e " w a s s e l e c t e d as the slo- gan of t he first ENA Founda t i on e n d o w m e n t c a m - p a i g n to s ignify its des i re to p rov ide the n e c e s s a r y re- sou rces for e m e r g e n c y nur ses to s u c c e e d in the future. The F o u n d a t i o n Board of Trus tees has in i t i a t ed a 1-year c a m p a i g n to ra ise $350,000 for an e n d o w m e n t fund. The pu rpose of the e n d o w m e n t c a m p a i g n is to s ecu re funds to ensu re the p e r p e t u i t y of the Founda - tion. This m o n e y will not be spent ; it will be i n v e s t e d and in t e re s t from the i n v e s t m e n t s will be u s e d for scho la rsh ips , r e sea rch , and spec ia l pro jec t g ran t s in future years . The c a m p a i g n officially s t a r t ed in Nash- ville w i th major con t r ibu t ions from ENA, BCEN, a n d severa l ENA leaders . It will conc lude at the Annua l M e e t i n g in Hawaii .

I a m personal ly a s k i n g each of you to con t r ibu te to the ENA Founda t i on E n d o w m e n t Campa ign , "On Course for t he Future ."* We canno t poss ib ly de te r - m i n e the course of e m e r g e n c y nu r s ing alone. By bu i ld ing a s t rong founda t ion w e can suppor t e a c h o ther as w e seek to fur ther our educa t ion , c o n d u c t re- search , or a t t e m p t to c h a n g e an a s p e c t of care t h rough a spec ia l project .

In add i t i on to m a k i n g a con t r ibu t ion to the cam- pa ign , I s t rongly e n c o u r a g e you to app ly for funds from the F o u n d a t i o n . t Our F o u n d a t i o n ' s s u c c e s s will b e j u d g e d by the con t r ibu t ions m a d e by g ran t rec ip- i en t s to the profess ion of e m e r g e n c y nurs ing. T h e s e r ec ip i en t s are s e t t i ng the course for our future. Lead- e rsh ip deve lopmen t , ou t comes , research , and p reven- t ion pro jec ts a re p a t h s to bu i ld ing a nur s ing profess ion tha t is a valued, in tegra l c o m p o n e n t of the p u b l i c ' s heal th. Le t ' s choose the course tha t l eads to a future w e have a c c o m p l i s h e d ve r sus a course d e t e r m i n e d by others.

*Specific information on how to contribute to the endowment cam- paign "On Course for the Future" can be found on page 39A. tInformation on grants is published in Etcetera and applications are available from the National Office by calling 800-2GETENA.

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