Joy in our Practice

Happy Nurses’ Week to all!

As announced at our gathering on November 29th, 2018, the GBNC launched a twice/week email to extend our Community of Joy exchanges with inspirational reflections, in different formats such as clips, quotes, stories, and ideas. Our time together at that first conference was only our “mustard-seed planting”. The emails were labeled “Joy in Our Practice” and an offshoot source of connection from that first and subsequent gatherings.

As the Greater Boston Nursing Collective enters a new phase we are suspending this activity. These emails were written by varied individuals representing our founding institutions. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the past authors! And a deep bow of gratitude to the 140+ recipients too.  Many of you have reached back to thank us when a reflection was particularly meaningful to you and many forwarded the emails to further the reach past the distribution list.

We close out this activity with a link to an inspiring reminder from Johnson & Johnson that our profession has changed the course of history. In very real and frequent ways, we know our profession has changedcountless lives in the privileged moments of one RN and one patient/family member. Those moments are our joy.

Thank you all for all you do and our hope is that you continue to find the JOY in our practice. Happy Nurses’ Week!

https://www.facebook.com/jnj/videos/nurses-change-lives/357212148244569/

Carolyn Hayes, Ph.D., RN, NEA-BC, FAAN
President, Greater Boston Nursing Collective

5 years ago, Carolyn Hayes launched an important Joy Project (better known as the Greater Boston Nursing Collective or GBNC). Her intent was to (re)connect nurses in practice and leadership with joy. She has a vision that nurses in all roles will continually discover the Joy and the Nobility in our practice. Today, we take a moment to express our gratitude to Carolyn. Her vision, courage, bravery and diligence has brought nurses into forums where we share moments of joy and through these moments, created indelible imprints upon one another and in turn, patients/families/communities. These forums include: weekly emails with reflections of Joy, an Integrative Nursing Fellowship developed amidst a pandemic, standing up a committed Board of Trustees, acceptance of a publication in Creative Nursing, a highly successful “Joy in Practice” Symposium…the list goes on).

Such bravery is what makes it such a honor to be a nurse and part of this noble professional community. Thank you Carolyn for your vision and your work to bring joy to so many….you are that bright and vivid light in our profession.

The Greater Boston Nursing Collective’s (GBNC) commitment to weekly JOY messages has paid homage to the unique presence nurses bring into the world.

Tapping into the words of the Cape Cod artist, Flying Edna:  

There is a village of women who know they are fire & they burn fierce with Love & even though each of them lives in different places, far apart,
in golden fields & loud cities & by oceans & rivers & underneath the baobabs in Africa,
still they come together often in dreams & for all you may think they are just ordinary women you pass on the street every day, they are the ones who hold the Heart of the
World for all of us who will come after.