Happy spring everyone!-We hope that those of you who have spent your winter in the cold and snowy tundra have started to thaw out and spring has arrived for all of you! We hope that spring brings you a renewed energy to engage with the Society of Trauma Nurses (STN).
Welcome back to all who were able to visit the bayou with us in New Orleans this year at the annual conference. We hope that you enjoyed the hospitality of New Orleans while reconnecting with what's new in trauma. Did you have a chance to attend a special interest group (SIG) meeting? Were you excited about publishing your work or case study? Are you ready to become more active within your organization? NOW is the time to act. Your energy, ideas, and contributions to the organization are both welcome and needed. You are how and why we stay engaged and excited about being the premiere organization regarding trauma care. You are who and what make us who we are and we want to know what you have to say.
Welcome to our new and returning board members. You have, as always, chosen wisely in your Society leadership. Kathi Ayres has big shoes to fill following Karen Doyle, who contributed so much, but we are confident that she will shine and continue our forward movement. Be sure and keep a close watch on the progress of the trauma nurse certification program in collaboration with BCEN, which is an exciting and welcome undertaking.
TOPIC, OPTIMAL, and ATCN classes continue to bring excellent educational opportunities to our trauma colleagues. SLIP and the electronic library are other resources available to you. We are anxiously awaiting the full implementation of the new leadership institute and all it brings to trauma leaders across the world.
Congratulations to Pat Manion for her recognition for distinguished leadership. Her talk regarding injury prevention should propel us to make changes in our programs and ensure that they are evidence-based and measurable and are designed to produce behavioral change. The STN continues its work with the ATS and many other trauma organizations and partners to produce an Injury Prevention Course designed to provide our injury prevention coordinators with the tools and knowledge to produce programs that can ultimately make a difference in injury patterns. The STN speakers' bureau is still accepting applications and the mentoring program continues going strong.
We hope that spring brings you renewed energy and that the STN is the recipient of that energy. Write that article for publication that has been on your winter to-do list for months; contact your SIG of interest and see how you can become more involved; take that trauma class you have been putting off for months. Whatever your passion, we appreciate all that you do to change the lives of those you work with and care for. What you do each day matters!!!