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It has been two months since our conference in Seattle. And
much has happened since. I believe we had a record number
of new members who attended for the first time this year,
and I hope each of you were made to feel comfortable and as
welcome as I did when I attended my first meeting in 1987.
Since that time, I have missed only one meeting and I owe
my longevity in much to the support, professional camaraderie
and to getting involved and staying involved. Taking an active
role in BONUS is something I highly recommend as a way to
get the most out of this wonderful organization. I am hopeful
that each of you returned to your workplace energized and
eager to hit the ground running to attack the challenges that
face each of us at our respective schools of nursing. Although
I take my job very serious as I know we all do, I have always
tried to have fun in my job and on occasion have felt guilty
about having way too much fun……but thanks to Selena
Swartzfager and the planning committee under the leadership
of Tricia Satkowski Harper who organized such a wonderful
and rich program, the concepts of the FISH! Philosophy were
introduced and helped to legitimize the concept of having
fun on the job. The four basic concepts are · PLAY
· MAKE THEIR DAY · BE THERE · CHOOSE
YOUR ATTITUDE. I encourage you to visit http://www.fishphilosophy.com
for more information on this exciting motivational program.
I want you to know that your steering committee has met twice
since our April conference. In addition to our October Steering
committee meeting, we will be meeting several times throughout
the year via conference calls and will be in constant communication
with several goals in mind. The following are some of the
highlights and on-going projects of your steering committee:
- Updating and Enhancing the BONUS website
- Posting Q &A summaries from Listserve on website
- Posting member photos on the Web
- Updating membership lists
- Pursuing more corporate sponsorship for Annual meetings
- Working with AACN to promote BONUS to the Deans
- Planning for next years DC 20th Anniversary Conference
- Continuing to build and solicit BONUS archives
With your input and final recommendations of the steering
committee members, we have selected New Orleans as the site
for the 2006 conference. I will be providing periodic updates
on the progress and actions being taken by your steering committee.
As an elected body of the whole, the steering committee works
on your behalf with the goal of continually moving forward
to provide what you, our constituents want for BONUS. Your
input is needed and wanted to insure we continue to move forward
in the direction desired by each of you.
Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to announce
our latest honorary member---Jennifer Ahearn. Jennifer is
with AACN and as such has supported BONUS for well over 15
years. And, I can’t imagine BONUS without Jennifer’s
sustained guidance, expertise, good judgment, and attention
to detail. Jennifer tends to the myriad of details on our
behalf not only for the annual conferences, but throughout
the year as well. Thank you Jennifer for all you do, and congratulations
on being our newest honorary member.
Please stay tuned for more updates throughout the year and
please checkout the Bonus website featuring highlights that
DC has to offer for our April 20-22, 2005 Anniversary BONUS
conference.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of your steering committee:
http://www.bonus.aacn.nche.edu/Officers.htm
Rudy Gomez
BONUS President and Assistant to the Dean
Univeristy of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
School of Nursing
Gomez@uthscsa.edu
PS: just for fun, you may want to visit : http://members15.clubphoto.com/young619815/2239870/guest.phtml
You may find a few familiar faces in this photo gallery as
a remembrance of our evening at the Palisade in Seattle.
Enjoy!
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