Message from the President
Passion and Excellence:
Growing, Learning, and Leading Together
March/April 2025
As I sit down at my computer to write my final President’s message, I reflect on what many ASPAN Past Presidents said to me last April 2024 in Orlando, Florida. They said, enjoy this year. It will go by so fast, and they were right. These past 10 months serving as ASPAN’s 44th President have been an incredible honor and one of the most memorable and rewarding experiences of my professional nursing career.
This year, my theme is “Passion and Excellence: Growing, Learning, and Leading Together,” and it has been exciting seeing the passion and excellence in perianesthesia nurses across the country. The ASPAN Board of Directors and I have traveled to many component seminars/meetings to connect and share with perianesthesia nurses nationwide. Component leaders at the Perianesthesia Development Institute (PDI) last November 2024 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, came together to share their passion and excellence, growing, learning, and strengthening their leadership skills to lead this organization and their components.
It was exciting to see so many perianesthesia nurses, both ASPAN members and non-members, attend ASPAN’s recent series of three free educational events celebrating Perianesthesia Nurse Awareness Week (PANAW) in February. I attended all three Zoom webinars, and the highest number of nurses attending was over 520. Over two hundred non-members attended and had enormous potential for ASPAN to follow up and encourage nurses to join ASPAN. Growing the organization and meeting the needs of its members has been a focus this year and will continue under the amazing leadership of Vice President/President-Elect Ursula Mellinger.
The ASPAN Board of Directors voted to contract with Dunleavy and Associates, Inc. to do a thorough organizational assessment this past year connecting with ASPAN members, leaders, Past ASPAN Presidents, and national office staff. There have been many focus meetings, surveys, data, history, and one-on-one individual meetings to see where ASPAN has been and opportunities to improve and grow in the future. I appreciate everyone who took the time to share your thoughts and ideas with the consultants. Thank you to Ron Gifford, who traveled to Oklahoma City to connect with leaders at PDI. We will share recommendations in the next few weeks and at the 2025 Representative Assembly meeting in Dallas, Texas.
ASPAN’s mission, vision, and strategies are accomplished by an amazing team of volunteers serving countless hours to advance the unique specialty perianesthesia practice. Thank you to the many leaders and members of ASPAN’s committees, strategic work teams, organizational liaisons, editors, and specialty practice groups for your knowledge and expertise in perianesthesia nursing, making a difference in our everyday practice. Thank you to the ASPAN Board of Directors for an amazing year. These individuals have dedicated hundreds of hours researching, sharing ideas, looking at opportunities, developing programs, networking with members across the country, both in person and virtually at multiple Zoom meetings conducting the business of ASPAN.
Our ASPAN National Office staff and Kevin Dill, ASPAN CEO, are an exceptional group that works hard behind the scenes. These hardworking, dedicated individuals keep us all on task, meeting deadlines, completing projects, and provide excellent customer service to our members. A special thanks to Kevin for your many years of service to ASPAN and your leadership and mentorship to me and the Past Presidents and boards before me. It has been an honor to serve as your ASPAN 2024 – 2025 President, and I look forward to seeing you in Dallas!
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