Letter From the President of ASPSN

Reflection of a President: It Is Really About

Courage!
Marcia Spear, DNP, ACNP-BC, CWS, CPSN, CANS

What a new face courage puts on everything. was able to harbor my courage and complete my presi-
—Ralph Waldo Emerson dency. Now I must harbor the courage to critically ap-
praise the job I accomplished. Yes, it does take courage.

A s this will be my final President’s message for

Plastic Surgical Nursing, I wanted to take the
opportunity to reflect back over the past 2 years
as President of American Society of Plastic Surgical Nurses
(ASPSN). I hope that my reflection will assist both cur-
The theme of our annual conference during my first
year as President was Strong Voices: Impacting Lives and
Making a Difference. I know each of us make differences
every day in the lives of our patients, families, friends, and
even strangers. The community of ASPSN has impacted
rent and all future leaders who will undoubtedly follow.
my life and made a difference in me as a person, profes-
Without a doubt, I have learned, grown, collaborated,
sional, and leader as I have strived to make positive dif-
matured, and become much more flexible and tolerant.
ferences within ASPSN. I only hope I leave behind some
First, I want to thank the community of ASPSN for this
impact on future leaders and colleagues. With growing
wonderful opportunity to serve as your President. What a
concerns of strategies to grow our membership, maintain
fulfilling endeavor, and for this, I will be forever grateful. It
financial stability, and offer more educational opportuni-
does mark the highlight of my professional career. I gave it
ties, the board recognized the importance of critically as-
my all, or it seems, and received so much more in return.
sessing our future plans. During that first year, the Board
Thus, the purpose of this personal reflection is answering
of Directors held a spring board meeting with the focus
these simple questions. Have I given enough? Have I done
of developing a comprehensive strategic plan that would
a good job? Did I contribute as much as I possibly could?
solidify our future. We met an entire day in Chicago, and
Did I practice due diligence as the President of ASPSN? Did
the ideas flowed. The enthusiasm was contagious, as
I honor my mentors and colleagues? All of these hallmarks
there was so much conversation, energy, and collaborat-
of a good leader are important to me. So, it is time that I crit-
ing with each other. During the course of the day, the
ically appraise my activities and contributions as President.
strategic plan was condensed and included objectives, in-
Why did I use the word “courage”? Courage is the abil-
terventions, as well as timelines of completion. It was a
ity to do something that you know is difficult (http://
short-term as well as a long-term plan. A new mission and
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/courage). Doing
vision emerged, with formalized core values as follows:
different things is scary and often difficult. Becoming
President of ASPSN was scary, and I willingly admit that. Vision: The definite voice for Plastic Surgical Nursing
I had been a board member for 4 years before becoming Mission: Promoting the competency and education
President-Elect. I had developed many close relationships of the plastic surgical nurse
with past presidents who have and continue to mentor Values: As nursing leaders and members of the
me. They were my role models, and I watched each of ASPSN, we are committed to promoting the fol-
their presidencies in awe and took joy and pride in their lowing values:
accomplishments. I always wondered whether I would Nurture: We believe in advancing professional
measure up to theirs as well as my own expectations. I development.
Unite: We believe in unity and teamwork.
Marcia Spear, DNP, ACNP-BC, CWS, CPSN, CANS, is a nurse practitio- Respect: We believe respect is the cornerstone
ner with the Department of Plastic Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical
Center, Nashville, TN.
of our profession.
The author reports no conflicts of interest.
Support: We believe in mentoring and encourage-
Address correspondence to Marcia Spear, DNP, ACNP-BC, CWS, CPSN,
ment.
CANS, Department of Plastic Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Educate: We believe in lifelong learning.
Center, S-2221, Medical Center North, Nashville, TN 37232 (e-mail:
marcia.spear@vanderbilt.edu). Going forward, the strategic plan was part of our board
DOI: 10.1097/PSN.0000000000000158 materials for our monthly conference calls. Board members

150 www.psnjournalonline.com Volume 36 „ Number 4 „ October–December 2016

Copyright © 2016 American Society of Plastic Surgical Nurses. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.

always discussed issues, projects, and collaboration with
the purpose of carrying out the strategic plan. Referring to
the plan during these board meetings helped direct dis-
cussions and decisions. This process helped solidify our
commitment to constantly evaluating our strategic plan
in carrying out the vision and mission of ASPSN. For this
piece of work, I am very proud and gleaned much for
my own growth and development as a participant in the
process. I commend the board for its work, dedication,
focus, and just plain “getting the job done.”
The board knew there was going to take the collabora-
tion of numerous members to fulfill the objectives of the
strategic plan. As tactics and actions to fulfill our strategic
plan, committees became very active again. Our member-
ship, marketing and social media, and clinical practice
committees have all been very much energized as you
can see from their fruits of labor. The clinical practice
committee has completed and made available position
statements and I hope as a member you contributed
to the final document. The membership committee has
focused on chapters and minimizing the chapter process
for the formation of new ones. The marketing and so-
cial media committee really blossomed during the 2016
national convention. Each and every member has contrib-
uted so much. For this I am grateful. ASPSN leadership
is a team approach and never only the contributions of
one. As President, I have grown a new appreciation of
this ideology. It is a team effort in every sense of the word,
and a leader is not effective without worthy talented
professionals.
At the 2015 national convention, we introduced the
Plastic Surgical Nursing Foundation. The Foundation was
a long-time goal of ASPSN and past leaders, and it is with
great pride that this has come to fruition. The Foundation
was created to oversee research and education in plastic
surgical nursing. A Board of Trustees comprising LuAnn
Buchholz, Barby Weber, and Sue Kunz, past presidents,
was appointed by the board in early 2016 and charged
with overseeing the activities and carrying out the mission
of the Foundation. What a great milestone for ASPSN and
one we can all be very proud of. I learned much from this
process and was truly a labor of love.
I am a baby boomer. I have a daughter who is a mil-
lennial. I still struggle today with the differences between
us and our views. As a leader, I recognize and continue
to struggle with these differences. The millennials like
things simple and straightforward. They embrace social
media and many other technologies there were not even
a thought during my earlier years. As a result, the ener-
gized Board of Directors underwent a process to revitalize
Plastic Surgical Nursing
Copyright © 2016 American Society of Plastic Surgical Nurses. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
Letter From the President of ASPSN
ASPSN with the updated strategic plan and new mission
and vision. With this came a new logo. The board dis-
cussed a new branding of ASPSN, and the design of a
new logo ensued, a more modern, simple logo. This was
a laborious process but, again, was embraced with such
enthusiasm and commitment that it was contagious.
The purpose of our society still remains continuing
education as it was in the beginning, and leadership has
never wavered from this direction. This endless quest of
knowledge to provide the ultimate care to our patients
remains a driving force for our membership. I am com-
mitted to an endless quest for knowledge personally and
have used this commitment in my duties and responsibili-
ties to ASPSN. The goal of a revised logo was to provide
a clean, simple, fresh, and modern, yet a timeless, sym-
bol reflective of a changing landscape of plastic surgi-
cal nursing. We have to capture the millennials. They are
our future. The concept of the Möbius strip is a surface
that, because of the twist, has one continuous side. It can
symbolize a patient in transition—restoring or changing
his or her look—and the twists are a smooth transition
within our care. It can also symbolize the cycle of life, and
the three-twist version of this symbol calling to the three
influences (doctor, nurse, and patient). It is also symbolic
to our endless quest for continuing education and knowl-
edge. The Möbius strip is representative of our society
today. After much work, the logos were placed before the
membership for the final choice. Member engagement
and voter response were so positive. Thank you for vot-
ing. Our new logo was formally introduced at the 2016
Annual Conference. The theme was “New Vision, New
Mission, New Face,” which was our new logo. I hope
each of us can view this logo with pride and embrace this
symbolic logo for years to come.
So, as I reflect on my presidency, it did take courage.
Like most things that you strive to do well they are dif-
ficult. You have to have the courage to persevere and
remain committed to ASPSN first, foremost, and always. I
was not successful alone in my presidency. I had strong,
committed board members who shared a common vision
and mission. We did do a good job. But yes, I could have
done more as always but the leaders after me will un-
doubtedly continue with all the many wonderful activities
that continue to unfold. I have no doubt. Together we
were successful. Thank you for sharing this memorable
journey with me.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia Spear, DNP, ACNP-BC, CWS, CPSN, CANS
President, ASPSN
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