Plant Seeds to Make Shade Trees

Since “Embracing Our Future” is my presidential theme, I want to share some insightful moments leading up to this theme and the take-home application both in our personal careers and within INS.

In the year 1992, I did not own a computer or cell phone. Seeking information at the time involved a blend of meeting people who knew of resources, making landline telephone calls, and obtaining mail-order information. Some insightful moments began in a BSN leadership course at University of North Florida in Jacksonville and the following year when my employer sent me to a leadership seminar. Simultaneously, I met a home infusion nurse who asked if I would be available to provide subcutaneous injections for a client in my small hometown. This infusion nurse had her CRNI®. So, thinking that I was the cream of the crop with my IV sticker, I was intrigued with the Infusion Nurses Society organization, and the certification in IV therapy was a delectable bait on a multiprong hook. I had no idea of the line and sinker attached!

In the mid-1990s, I was fascinated with the wealth of leadership training and improvement resources available through the Nightingale Conant organization. It was new and transformational, but it was also taking energy, time, and money for a wife and working mother to invest in leadership training and CRNI® preparation. The rewards soon became apparent while working night shift in a surgical ICU. The scenario involved a classic case of refractoriness, in which the patient was unresponsive to platelet transfusions. The patient’s platelet count showed no improvement and was decreasing post-platelet transfusions. I had been studying blood component therapy in the “red” INS book, and I copied the pages on platelet refractoriness and gave it to a day shift RN who conveyed the information to the general surgeon. The general surgeon consulted a hematologist who confirmed the information cited from the INS textbook to be both evidence-based and efficacious. From that point on, the surgeon provided his patients in need of repeated platelet infusions with single-donor platelets, thus decreasing alloimmunization risk. This reinforced the realization that learning and studying are never in vain when promoting health in the collective patient care setting.

At the same time, I was listening to an audiocassette (remember those?) of the book The Psychology of Winning by Denis Waitley. While I was driving on Williams Street one early morning, he quoted this proverb, “In your lifetime, plan to plant seeds to make shade trees you will never sit under.” It really hit me hard when I heard him say those words and describe the meaning. I began to think of the people in my life who had selflessly shared information and expertise to make me a better, more compatible human being and successful nurse. I thought of the infusion nurse who did not keep the INS organization, its Standards of Practice, and the CRNI® her little secret in small town USA. Instead, she empowered me personally and professionally. I realized that I could share knowledge, experience, and know-how practicum with other individuals and hope those individuals would go on to do greater things with it than I could ever imagine or accomplish. Doing so would give me a sense of self-assurance that the world would go on for future generations and continue to promote success in holistic accomplishments.

Likewise, the Infusion Nurses Society is committed to passing value on to future generations. This is most apparent in the commitment to now update the Standards every three years, as we are all part of a fast-moving world with more changes in a day than our grandparents could have ever perceived in a decade.

Likewise, the Infusion Nurses Society is committed to passing value on to future generations. This is most apparent in the commitment to now update the Standards every three years, as we are all part of a fast-moving world with more changes in a day than our grandparents could have ever perceived in a decade. When the 8th edition of the Standards was published in 2021, Mary Alexander, the former INS CEO, stated that the committee had reviewed over 2500 literature sources in a 5-year span. Since 2021, in fewer than 3 years, this committee has prepared a draft of the 2024 INS Infusion Therapy Standards of Practice, this time the 9th edition! Again, this has required thousands of cited references and is a declaration of the rapidly expanding science of infusion therapy and vascular access. INS continues to deliver the Infusion Therapy Standards of Practice with a commitment to promote practice consistency and provide a global clinical decision-making guide when delivering patient-centered infusion care. The selfless commitment of these Standards committee members is to be applauded! As stated by Waitley, they do it because they are passionate, involved, and engaged in what they are doing and giving in this moment of time.

References

Gorski LA, Hadaway L, Hagle ME, et al. Infusion therapy standards of practice. J Infus Nurs. 2021;44(suppl 1):S1-S224. doi:10.1097/NAN.0000000000000396.

Waitley, D. The New Psychology of Winning: Top Qualities of a 21st Century Winner. New York: Gildan Media; 2021.

Waitley, D. The Psychology of Winning. Audiobook. Nightingale-Conant; 1991.

Weir, JA. Blood component therapy. In: Terry J, Baranowski L, Lonsway R, Hedrick C, eds, Intravenous Therapy Clinical Principles and Practice. Saunders; 1995: 165-187.

Inez Nichols, DNP, FNP-BC, CRNI®, VA-BC, President of the INS Board of Directors, is a nurse practitioner currently licensed in Florida and Georgia. She is a hospitalist/infusion and vascular specialist at the Madison County Memorial Hospital in Madison, Florida. Career roles have integrated acute care, primary care, and occupational health care, as well as incorporated patient education, nursing education, and outcomes of monitoring related to infusion therapy. Dr. Nichols attended the University of North Florida and completed the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in 2017. Professional contributions include active work within professional nursing organizations, particularly INS, where she has been a member for over 20 years and served in various roles, including as a chapter liaison (Southeast), in chapter leadership, as a Vesicant Task Force member, as an INCC examination council member and secretary, and as the 2018-2020 INS secretary/treasurer. She has served as a Journal of Infusion Nursing reviewer beginning in 2003 and has published widely within this specialty field.