Nursing has never been more exciting -- or challenging.  Our challenges come from a variety of forces – an aging population, aging facilities, workforce shortages, manual systems in an automated world, reductions in funding, reductions in reimbursement, regulatory agencies and a public outcry to restore trust in healthcare. 

Questions that we wrestle with everyday are:

• How do we stay current in our knowledge, in a field as dynamic as healthcare, so that we may deliver the finest care possible to those whom are counting on us the most?

• How do we know that the care that we are delivering really makes a difference to the outcomes we seek?

• How do we as nurses stay engaged and motivated when we are facing a nursing shortage?

• How do we balance the responsibilities of work with the responsibilities of home and family?

• How do we not lose sight of the positive differences that we make every day?

The exciting part of nursing is that we have the opportunity to create the professional practice environment that we all want to work in and be cared for in.  We are fortunate to work in a Health System that appreciates and recognizes the outstanding contribution that nurses make everyday to the communities that we serve. 

The answers to meeting the challenges and creating
the finest professional practice environment are within each of you – the nurses of the North Shore-LIJ Health System.  The only thing that limits us is our own imagination, innovation, creativity and desire to change.