- Email: [email protected]
Transforming the road not taken into the merging highway
EDITORIAL Transforming the Road Not Taken Into the Merging Highway
N
URSING IS TRULY an exciting profession that offers many creative choices, often resulting in a feeling of being overwhelmed by the various “roads” you can travel, while not even having a map to guide you. Should we travel the road of mainly a nurse-researcher? Should we travel, instead, on the road to becoming an expert clinician? Should we take the road that leads us to becoming a master teacher? Should we drive the path of becoming a political or community activist? All these roads are exciting, present much potential for having an impact on nursing and heath care, and can be seductive to an enthusiastic nurse who wants greater involvement in his or her career. Maybe a good and reasonable approach is to view these options not as mutually exclusive roads leading to very different destinations but, instead, as on ramps and off ramps on the freeway of a nursing career. In that way, the road not taken can become the road taken at a later date or can merge with the current road on which one is driving.We certainly must make decisions about our goals and develop a logical focus for our work; at the same time, though, we must be open to modifying or augmenting our goals as we “seize” the opportunities that are presented, often ones we did not know existed. We do not want to be ostriches with our heads in the sand, not noticing the world around us or the opportunities available. Of course, we also do not want to be flapping our wings going nowhere because we have no focus at all! I often hear people say things like “I’m a researcher; I don’t really keep up with clinical,” or “I am really not interested in research as I like to focus on my clinical work.” Or, even in the category of research, I hear people say, “I’m a qualitative person— don’t give me
8755-7223/$30.00 © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.profnurs.2004.04.009
these statistics,” or “I do statistical research. I’m a numbers person.” Although the intent of these statements is to describe the person’s focus and expertise, the underlying message is that one focus precludes the other, dialectically opposed focus. In fact, these descriptions do not have to connote dialectical opposites. A person who can seize opportunities is one who can recognize his or her current focus, while also maintaining a broader view of her career in the larger sense—a career that will most likely encompass various roads and pathways. In academic nursing, we talk about clinicians and researchers. I want to emphasize “and” instead of “or.” By merging our various roads (but keeping our sense of direction by using maps), we can have some sense of the road not taken. We continue to discuss academicservice partnerships and evidence-based practice. In my mind, these terms mean that there is some overlap of the partners in the evolving partnership. Likewise, as individuals, we can travel various roads, even if some roads are mainly for visiting. In that way, we will develop a better sense of the activities on the roads we rarely traverse. Sometimes, we might want to try a different route to the same destination. We all know that there are many ways to get to a destination. In fact, certain paths work better under certain conditions. For example, in rush hour, we can avoid the roads that have the most traffic, or we can travel the road later, after traffic has subsided. In our careers, we can also choose different paths based on the conditions. A condition might arise with an opportunity to learn about a new clinical procedure. Even though this procedure is peripheral to the main research we are conducting, we can broaden our horizons by taking the time to travel to that opportunity to have a broader perspective of our own research by gaining a better understanding of some elements in it. In writing this editorial, I am also aware that I am
Journal of Professional Nursing, Vol 20, No 3 (May–June), 2004: pp 139-140
139
140
presenting some idealism here: there will, in fact, always be roads not taken. None of us can travel all the roads. We make some choices that result in certain roads not taken. All we are left with is wondering what that road might have been. However, with increasing technology, including the World Wide Web, we can travel more roads than we think we can, and, even if we cannot personally travel a certain road, we can talk with others who have traveled it. We have more access to communication globally via the World Wide Web, and we can make it a point to communicate more effectively in person with our colleagues on different roads. I certainly do not want to suggest that we should blur our own career focus. My point is that, while we need to develop and maintain a strong focus for our work, we need to be aware that various roads are avail-
EDITORIAL
able to attain the goals of that focus. Although there might be a danger of getting off track or off focus, I view the merging of roads as gaining a broader perspective, leading to a more comprehensive focus that reflects the complexity of the world around us. We need to navigate the roads, often making choices of one road over the other (yes, there is a road not taken), but we can choose to travel or merge onto that road later. So I invite you to think about the complex maps that represent all the various roads you are traveling and contemplating traveling, recognizing that while you cannot travel all the roads, you can develop a greater awareness of them.
ELLEN OLSHANSKY, DNSC, RNC, FAAN Editor
N
URSING IS TRULY an exciting profession that offers many creative choices, often resulting in a feeling of being overwhelmed by the various “roads” you can travel, while not even having a map to guide you. Should we travel the road of mainly a nurse-researcher? Should we travel, instead, on the road to becoming an expert clinician? Should we take the road that leads us to becoming a master teacher? Should we drive the path of becoming a political or community activist? All these roads are exciting, present much potential for having an impact on nursing and heath care, and can be seductive to an enthusiastic nurse who wants greater involvement in his or her career. Maybe a good and reasonable approach is to view these options not as mutually exclusive roads leading to very different destinations but, instead, as on ramps and off ramps on the freeway of a nursing career. In that way, the road not taken can become the road taken at a later date or can merge with the current road on which one is driving.We certainly must make decisions about our goals and develop a logical focus for our work; at the same time, though, we must be open to modifying or augmenting our goals as we “seize” the opportunities that are presented, often ones we did not know existed. We do not want to be ostriches with our heads in the sand, not noticing the world around us or the opportunities available. Of course, we also do not want to be flapping our wings going nowhere because we have no focus at all! I often hear people say things like “I’m a researcher; I don’t really keep up with clinical,” or “I am really not interested in research as I like to focus on my clinical work.” Or, even in the category of research, I hear people say, “I’m a qualitative person— don’t give me
8755-7223/$30.00 © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.profnurs.2004.04.009
these statistics,” or “I do statistical research. I’m a numbers person.” Although the intent of these statements is to describe the person’s focus and expertise, the underlying message is that one focus precludes the other, dialectically opposed focus. In fact, these descriptions do not have to connote dialectical opposites. A person who can seize opportunities is one who can recognize his or her current focus, while also maintaining a broader view of her career in the larger sense—a career that will most likely encompass various roads and pathways. In academic nursing, we talk about clinicians and researchers. I want to emphasize “and” instead of “or.” By merging our various roads (but keeping our sense of direction by using maps), we can have some sense of the road not taken. We continue to discuss academicservice partnerships and evidence-based practice. In my mind, these terms mean that there is some overlap of the partners in the evolving partnership. Likewise, as individuals, we can travel various roads, even if some roads are mainly for visiting. In that way, we will develop a better sense of the activities on the roads we rarely traverse. Sometimes, we might want to try a different route to the same destination. We all know that there are many ways to get to a destination. In fact, certain paths work better under certain conditions. For example, in rush hour, we can avoid the roads that have the most traffic, or we can travel the road later, after traffic has subsided. In our careers, we can also choose different paths based on the conditions. A condition might arise with an opportunity to learn about a new clinical procedure. Even though this procedure is peripheral to the main research we are conducting, we can broaden our horizons by taking the time to travel to that opportunity to have a broader perspective of our own research by gaining a better understanding of some elements in it. In writing this editorial, I am also aware that I am
Journal of Professional Nursing, Vol 20, No 3 (May–June), 2004: pp 139-140
139
140
presenting some idealism here: there will, in fact, always be roads not taken. None of us can travel all the roads. We make some choices that result in certain roads not taken. All we are left with is wondering what that road might have been. However, with increasing technology, including the World Wide Web, we can travel more roads than we think we can, and, even if we cannot personally travel a certain road, we can talk with others who have traveled it. We have more access to communication globally via the World Wide Web, and we can make it a point to communicate more effectively in person with our colleagues on different roads. I certainly do not want to suggest that we should blur our own career focus. My point is that, while we need to develop and maintain a strong focus for our work, we need to be aware that various roads are avail-
EDITORIAL
able to attain the goals of that focus. Although there might be a danger of getting off track or off focus, I view the merging of roads as gaining a broader perspective, leading to a more comprehensive focus that reflects the complexity of the world around us. We need to navigate the roads, often making choices of one road over the other (yes, there is a road not taken), but we can choose to travel or merge onto that road later. So I invite you to think about the complex maps that represent all the various roads you are traveling and contemplating traveling, recognizing that while you cannot travel all the roads, you can develop a greater awareness of them.
ELLEN OLSHANSKY, DNSC, RNC, FAAN Editor