AUTHOR'S NOTE
After this year's annual meeting in Phoenix, I had the opportunity to speak with two remarkable women about their experience with American Pediatric Surgical Nurses Association (APSNA) and what APSNA means to them. The words that follow are with Linda Camacho of Los Angeles, CA, and Linda Haga of Roanoke, VA. Two Lindas-one on each side of the country. The first Linda has spent her whole career in nursing yet is relatively new to the subspecialty of pediatric surgical nursing. The second Linda served with APSNA for many years and has retired from practice after 30 years in the field.
Jenny: Tell us a little about yourself and your nursing career to date.
Linda C.: This year in Phoenix was my second APSNA meeting. My first was in San Antonio in 2012. I've been a surgery nurse practitioner at Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) for 3 years. Prior to that, I worked as a registered nurse at CHLA for 10 years on a med/surg unit. I started my nursing career at 16 years old. First, I worked as nurse's aid and started taking classes little-by-little. I got my LVN license and worked as a licensed vocational nurse for 9 years. Later, I took a challenge RN course, passed boards, and worked at Miller Children's in 1999. I started at CHLA as a traveler, then was able to complete my BSN and Master's with CHLA's tuition support. My goal is to be a clinical instructor. I like to teach and hope to do more teaching.
Jenny: How have you experienced APSNA?
Linda C.: My first meeting I thought, "I don't know anything-what am I doing here!" It was very overwhelming. This second meeting I felt like I belonged here and could relate more. As a new specialty nurse, I had tried to create teaching materials. This year, I learned that all of that (teaching materials) already exists within APSNA. I was excited to learn about all the education materials I can use.
Jenny: What do you hope APSNA can do for you?
Linda C.: I want a mentor. Someone to guide me, hear my ideas, and help me make them happen. Sometimes, older clinician's doors are shut, and they seem closed to inspiration. They want you to find your own way. I would like to do a poster at APSNA one day. My team is working on a protocol to reduce intussusception hospital admissions and discharge them the same day-this is a possible poster topic that comes to mind.
Jenny: What does APSNA do well?
Linda C.: APSNA feels very welcoming. People remembered me from my first meeting and made me feel welcome this time. I didn't feel like an outsider. I loved the audience response system in Phoenix. I liked to see the entire audience engage with clinical topics.
Jenny: What can APSNA improve?
Linda C.: There isn't much diversity. Personally, I would like to help recruit among the Hispanic population. I know a lot of nurses through the Hispanic Nurses Association locally. I would like to see more staff nurses. I like the clinical focus, and I want nurses to stay inspired to improve children's lives. To APSNA I say, "Don't lose the passion!"
Jenny: Tell me about your nursing career and how you started in APSNA.
Linda H.: I worked 42 years in pediatric nursing, 20 in pediatric surgery at Children's National in Washington, DC. I wasn't a founding member of APSNA. I think I came to the second meeting in Hilton Head. I remember being fascinated by all the women I met-their knowledge and expertise, their willingness to share that with me. The thing I liked most was that it was a patient-focused group. They seemed to care most about improving the lives of children.
About my 3rd or 4th year in the group, I joined the board as secretary. This was before the age of e-mail. The board communicated through fax and teleconference. I worked on the Program committee. Then, I took the Information Technology (IT) chair, keeping it for 3 years. My goal was to get the Web site up and running, to start the listserv and begin online voting. Ultimately, we knew we wanted to transition to become paperless. In 2006, I served as president. This was in the time before midyear board meetings and presidential travel to leadership and other meetings. We started small and had no money for travel then.
Jenny: What were your biggest challenges working on the board?
Linda H.: Time management was huge, especially when I did IT and Web development. Many entire Saturdays were spent on APSNA. I worked full time during the week. I didn't have a family, and many of us on the board at the time did not have families. That was an interesting issue for the board.
Jenny: What are your future hopes for APSNA?
Linda H.: I like the idea of a 2-year presidential term. I realize the organization is outgrowing an all-volunteer board, but I hope a management company does not take over decision making for the organization. A company cannot manage the board. The group could lose focus unless we keep self-directed.
I hope APSNA can retain its tradition of mentoring young clinicians and bringing in new people. I hope to see APSNA stay clinically focused. I would just like to add that I thank APSNA and all the people in it who made me a better nurse through their support, mentoring, and friendship. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to serve on the BOD in so many different capacities.
Jenny: What are you doing with yourself now that you've retired?
Linda H.: I love living peacefully in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I keep close to my 89-year-old mother and drive for meals-on-wheels 3 days a week in Roanoke. And I recently reconnected with an old high school flame. It is great to be back in each other's lives again. There is life after APSNA!