I had the privilege to recently attend the 37th annual National Association of Directors of Administration in Long Term Care (NADONA/LTC) conference. I love going to this gathering as I not only get to enrich my mind but also hang out with other nurse leaders and longtime peers.

But then this year something really cool happened: Mentorship. I want to give a shout out to two individuals — Karen McDonald, chief nursing officer for Mission Health, who challenged Chrissy Morgan, regional director of clinical services for Kansas West, to start a state chapter of NADONA in Kansas. So, Chrissy did, and mentored a bunch of new DONs and brought 20-some of these young new leaders to NADONA this year. 

Let me start out by saying that for a long while, the attendees at NADONA were for the most part, well, on the “nearing retirement age,” to be polite. This is a thing. A mass exodus of RNs and nursing leaders is happening soon. 

A 2022 national survey of registered nurses showed that 25% of RNs working in clinical settings plan to retire over the next five years. In its 2020 brief, Policies to Support Older Nurses at Work, the International Centre on Nurse Migration warns of an upcoming global nursing workforce crisis with the expected retirement of more than 4.7 million nurses by 2030. 

And NADONA’s past attendees were showing quite a bit more than that 25%.  My friend Karen McDonald calls a band of us “The old girls’ group.” And before anyone gets offended at the word girls, we are all girls in this group and identify as such. Funny, I don’t think anyone will get offended at the word “old!” But the truth is, most of us will retire in the next five years.

We often don’t even realize the lives we touch when we mentor, when we extend an invitation such as, “Hey, come to a NADONA meeting, come to the conference.” These are our future leaders. But please know that you do make an impact. I didn’t realize the impact I made on mentoring and encouraging and inviting. But after this conference, I now do. 

Robin Arnicar, the current national president of NADONA, mentioned in a podcast that McKnight’s recorded live from the exhibit hall that “Jackie Vance” once invited her to come to a NADONA meeting, and then encouraged her to run for a state chapter board position, and then to run for a national position. I had forgotten.

Michelle Jambora, winner of the National Nurse Administrator of the Year Award, mentioned during her acceptance speech that “Jackie Vance” invited her to her first NADONA meeting and mentored her and encouraged her to run for (and accept) a state board position. I had not remembered.

When Michelle asked to take a picture with me, three nurses ran forward and said, “Wait, I want a picture. I am one of Jackie’s too!” That, too, had slipped my mind. I had just done what should be natural for us: Extend an invitation, encourage, mentor. Build the bench strength of future leaders.

So, thank you, Karen and Chrissy and others who are extending those invitations. You are building a room full of future leaders. And thank heaven that we “Old Girls” can retire in peace one day!

 Just keeping it real,

Nurse Jackie

The Real Nurse Jackie is written by Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC, Senior Director of Clinical Innovation and Education for Mission Health Communities, LLC, and an APEX Award of Excellence winner for Blog Writing. Vance is a real-life long-term care nurse. A nationally respected nurse educator and past national LTC Nurse Administrator of the Year, a 2024 McKnight’s VIP Woman of Distinction award winner, and an accomplished stand-up comedienne. The opinions supplied here are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of her employer or her professional affiliates.

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