At the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ (AACN’s) National Teaching Institute in May 2022, incoming president Amanda Bettencourt revealed her presidential theme for 2022-2023: “Starting Now.” Bettencourt shared thoughts that are very relevant to where our profession is now and what we need to do to move forward, including: “Rebooting ourselves for a new AACN year, we will start now with renewed hope. Because hope transforms. We can break new ground. And, along the way, let’s be prepared to ruffle some feathers. We will do this together. We are not alone. And we will do it Starting Now.”1(p2)
Another critical observation for nurses in her address: we need to advocate for ourselves “because sacrificing our own well-being benefits no one.”1 In her recent video blog, Bettencourt adds that although we can’t forget the events of the last few years, it is time to celebrate our successes and...