Sitting in my office reflecting on the past year, it is a very snowy day in my hometown. As much as I don’t like to be cold, the snow is a good and necessary thing. Part of the cycle of life that will bring new life and needed water next spring. So I am resigning myself to enjoying the beauty of the frozen tundra outside.
As much as I don’t like being cold, I love a lot about this time of year; a little bit of hibernation, boots and sweaters, traditions, time with family, and the joy/anticipation that feels the air. The holiday season and the upcoming New Year. We never know what is around the corner but there is still that anticipation of what may be. This is so much of what our clients/patients are experiencing and we get to be a small part of that amazing time.
Speaking of not knowing what is around the corner, many of you heard at annual meeting that we had some changes to the board and would let you know once we filled in the gaps. Well a little unexpected, but I will continue as President for one more year. Our board voted for a suspension of the bylaws so that this could happen. In conjunction, we have voted to have Debbie Young switch from Director of Conferences to President Elect! Welcome Debbie, I look forward to working with you! Miriam McKinny will be remaining on the board as Director of Conferences. With that we now have a full slate for the 2023 year.
If you haven’t had a chance to take peek at the website, do so. We have converted from our old site to a freshly updated site. As with any major change, there will be some things that need to be tweaked. So let us know if you run into anything that may not be as clear or user friendly as you’d like.
The next thing I would like to address is our DEI requirement. We feel very strongly that we need to be inclusive of all people and realize that the term DEI doesn’t do that the way we want. Particularly in international areas, this doesn’t fit the need for inclusion. So we have made the decision to change this requirement to Cultural Competency. What we want is for you to have an understanding of the people or groups in your area who may be marginalized or have health disparities. This could be due to race, religion, sexual identity, or many other things. So we leave it to you to determine how you can give respectful and competent care to those you teach and support. With that you will still need to submit 4 hours of educations showing that you have taken classes, trainings, read, or in some challenged yourself to learn and grow. Jenna in the office has examples, but you can always submit what you think will work and get that approved.
I hope that as we close out 2022 and look forward to 2023 that you stop and take some time to reflect on what is important to you. Find the things that bring you joy and find ways to incorporate them in your life.
