OADNOADNSeptember 14, 2024
Dear OADN Members,
Greetings and happy fall! Having served in associate degree nursing education for nearly 30 years, I remember how hectic this time of the
year is for educating the next generation of nurses. I hope your fall term is off to a wonderful start!
As my tenure on the OADN Board of Directors ends this fall, I have been thinking back to when my journey started. After decades of attending nursing education conferences and conventions, a colleague encouraged me to attend the OADN convention 2018 in Philadelphia. Another colleague suggested we submit an abstract for a break-out session, which was accepted, and so off I went. I expected the convention to be like all the others I had attended over the years, but at the first blush of the opening keynote, I realized this was going to be an extraordinary event. I know I’m preaching to the choir when I say the challenges and joys in associate degree nursing are unique. I have always been completely humbled by the hurdles our exceptional students face to get to our programs, let alone complete them. When I started my career in ADN education, I was told to be prepared for the “non-traditional” students. At the time, I’m pretty sure I didn’t know what that meant, but I quickly learned that our students are single parents, employed, often full-time, have few resources, and have climbed an uphill, seemingly insurmountable mountain to get to our program. Their stories inspired me to be my best as an educator. At that first convention in Philadelphia, I quickly realized my students were your students; my challenges were your challenges, and my joys were your joys. I had, quite simply, found my people.
By 2019, I was elected to the OADN Board of Directors, and now, five years later, my service on the Board is complete. I’ve become a bit of an ambassador for the OADN Convention. While there are always excuses not to go to convention, the return on investment will be so great that you will realize the obstacles of getting there were minor compared to the gain. Our carefully selected keynote speakers and breakout sessions are all geared toward the specific needs of the associate degree nursing educator, leader, and student. From that first time in 2018, I vowed never to attend alone again as I always wanted to ensure we had plenty of ears on the ground soaking in all the outstanding content we would then take back to our program. Our return travel was always filled with conversations about our favorite takeaways and what we would attempt to operationalize when we returned home.
This year’s convention in Tampa, Florida, will be exceptional. Not only do we have a lineup of outstanding speakers, opportunities for networking, and a beautiful venue, but we are also celebrating OADN’s 40th year! We have so much to celebrate. My passion for nursing and the associate degree pathway runs deep. Seeing our incredible students cross the stage at each pinning ceremony solidifies the “why” of our work. I urge you to consider attending the convention in Tampa. May it be a time for you to find “your” people. For more information and to register, please go to https://oadn2024.eventscribe.net/. Dates this year are October 31-Nov 2. I promise you will be so glad you attended!
Sincerely,
Karen LaMartina, Ph.D., RN
OADN President