Fellowship: A Credential, not an Award

I celebrated my Fellowship at the national AORN meeting in San Antonio last week.  What an honor to have been selected for a credential that speaks to significant professional achievement. The essence of a Fellowship is acknowledgment of influence on professional practice beyond one’s immediate sphere of influence. A Fellowship isn’t an award; it is a credential akin to an academic degree. One earns a Fellowship by providing the selection committee with written documentation of the outcomes of one's influence on practice, along with support letters from others who can expand the narrative and provide a more global perspective of the accomplishment.

While most Fellowships in nursing specialties enhance clinical practice and motivate better patient outcomes, my contribution focused on the quality oof communication among professionals, encouraging and enhancing the transition to electronic communication with the advent of the internet. I created the first websites for chapters of professional organizations and facilitated the transition in communication from telephone calls and sending invitations and information by mail, to building a website that afforded 24/7 access to information for everyone.

Between 2002 and 2010 I spoke frequently to groups of professionals, extolling the superiority of electronic communication and explaining the process of transitioning their communication protocols to incorporating the burgeoning technology.  You'd think acceptance of the concept would be a no-brainer ... after all, the transition would increase access to information and save money at the same time ... but that assumption would not be accurate.  The pushback was monumental, a stunning reminder of how recalcitrant most people are to changing from a comfortable environment to something new and potentially challenging.

The early adopters were rewarding, and I was enthusiastic about building websites for my colleagues and helping them set up email communication. Each adopter became a poster child for my mission, and by 2010 the transition to electronic communication, though slow, was steady. My goal transitioned from influencing change to enhancing my colleagues' skills with the available electronic communication tools. The first websites that took advantage of available software (instead of my coding them in html) utilized the Nursing Network platform.  Today, Nursing Network is the most popular platform for nursing websites for those with limited technical skills. It houses websites for hundreds of chapters of nursing professional organizations in a wide variety of specialties.

My influence in electronic communication is the essence of my Fellowship. I am pleased and proud that my efforts have been so graciously rewarded. I encourage my colleagues to review the Fellowship criteria and application process. When they have identified their significant professional achievement. Then they can begin to collect the documentation of their accomplishments that will inform their application. AORN’s fellowship sponsors are eager to assist anyone interested in the journey.