On Saturday evening just passed I had the privilege of attending the inaugural Wise Foundation gala as part of the AVA Annual Meeting in Savannah. The gala was a star-studded event acknowledging the critical contribution of Marcia Wise as a founder and life-long supporter of AVA. Marcia’s contribution to IV nursing over the past 30 or so years has been unwavering. Her commitment and contributions to AVA are salient reminders to all of us working voluntarily to improve member services and offerings through our professional organizations. Back to Saturday night…With a ballroom full of “legends” from the intravenous (IV) community and beyond, I was intrigued to find that there are actually Drs Broviac and Hickman, each being the designer and inventors of the respectively named vascular access catheters. Both gentlemen were humble in their contributions to nursing. You can’t help but wonder how many lives all around the world have been affected or touched by their original work. Another highlight of the evening was the opportunity to reunite with two firm friends of APIC, Victoria and Armando Nahum. The Nahums are Atlanta-based advocates for best practice healthcare associated infection prevention. Their passion is palpable being based in the very premature death of their son as a result of an HAI. Subsequent to their son’s death Victoria and Armando have worked tirelessly in their lobbying efforts to bring HAIs to the attention of those in prominent places who have additional drive, resources and commitment. Given the similarities in their overarching goals, it was inevitable that the Nahums and APIC would collaborate and most recently this has included the release of the Hand Hygiene DVD developed in association with CDC. This DVD was designed for public education on the importance of hand hygiene and its contribution to HAI elimination. In several sites across the USA the DVD has been implemented as a part of routine patient admission process. What an incredible achievement and an important milestone in APIC’s extended reach and ability to harness the drive and creativity of partners. The line between internal and external APIC partners narrows every year, a sign of the importance of APIC’s message penetrating around the world and to many communities in different parts of the worlds. Consumers are critical partners for APIC, our strategic partners from medical industry are also as are governments and regulators too. In future years I suspect APIC’s target audience will be extended and more diverse than now. I look forward to being part of that diversity and learning new ways to do better in the business of HAI elimination. We often think that many hands add many germs, truly, many hands make light work. Given the enormity of the work that awaits us in fighting infections I say let’s welcome folks who share our commitment and our over-arching goals, the Nahums are one fine example and I encourage you to visit their website at www.safecarecampaign.org and think about other like folks that perhaps you know who would add value to your work as an infection preventionist – make them welcome today. From 30,000 feet somewhere between Savvanah and Orlando! Cath
This entry was posted
on Monday, September 15th, 2008 at 9:12 pm and is filed under Great Things, Personal Leadership Philosophy, Vision for APIC.
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