This week is the IAFN annual conference, and once again, it’s an opportunity to network and collaborate with some of the best and the brightest in the field. It’s a week I love, and sometimes love to hate, because with the deeply satisfying moments come the inevitable, frustrating ones where I witness acts of great professional unkindness perpetrated left and right. Over the years a degree of both public and private shaming has begun to emerge at this conference, particularly in regards to education, that makes me feel sad for the profession. I have witnessed it first hand, as close friends have been made to feel their accomplishments mean nothing without advanced degrees; I’ve listened (astonished) in public forums as those who should be mentors explicitly tell audience members that they need to dumb their content down for the non-PhDs in the room; and of course, I’ve had more nurses than I can count worry to me about whether they will have a place in the organization 5-10 years down the road if they don’t go back to school.
Happy Forensic Nurses Week to all of us! It feels like a particularly busy one, what with multiple deadlines looming. I’d love to hear how folks are commemorating the week, though–especially if there are some creative celebrations in the works. Don’t have anything planned yet? There’s still time–IAFN has a planning guide (PDF) to help you out.