The importance and impact of nursing – an endnote address from Dr. Laura Rossi
The 2021 NANDA International Conference ended, after two intense and fruitful days, with a dynamic and touching endnote address to all attendees from Dr. Laura Rossi, President-Elect of NANDA-I, about the importance and impact of nursing and nursing diagnoses.
Dr. Rossi started her presentation by guiding the audience through the main ideas and thoughts on the keynote addresses of Drs. Peggy Chin and Connie Delaney. She also reflected on the importance of the strategic vision for NANDA International, as presented by Professor Carme Espinosa, the NANDA-I President. Moreover, she highlighted that nurses are the most numerous healthcare professionals worldwide and, more importantly, that they are considered to be one of the most trusted and valued professions by members of society. She also emphasized how the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for nurses within the healthcare system, and for society globally.
Dr. Rossi delivered the presentation with a tremendous amount of tenacity and demonstrated her unique sense of charisma and belief in the nursing profession. She made an explicit remembrance and acknowledgement of Dr. Marjory Gordons’ legacy as the developer of Functional Health Patterns, an assessment framework that has provided generations of nurses with a format to organize patient data and drive clinical judgment, allowing them to take care of patients using a holistic perspective.
Dr. Rossi reiterated the concept of assessment as a crucial step for nursing diagnosis and diagnostic reasoning. The integration of assessment in daily nursing practice helps nurses not only to improve daily care, but to gain visibility and provide tangible evidence of their unique and irreplaceable knowledge and work. Moving forward, she stated that with the data that can be gathered from nursing assessment, more research can be produced, and the discipline may expand its limits.
Overall, the endnote address celebrated the important role of nurses, their significant commitment and responsibility to patients, families, and the whole community, and the incredible future awaiting all nurses. Finally, she emphasized the importance of the outcomes of nursing clinical reasoning, which can be represented by nursing diagnoses.
Miriam Rodriguez-Monforte, PhD, RN Secretary/Treasurer