I recently had the honor of receiving the Mary Helen Forrest Legacy in Nursing award at the UAMS Awards of Excellence (a total shock, considering I had only found out I was a nominee the day before the ceremony). I stood among other nurses who have spent their careers pouring out their knowledge, skills, expertise, passions, and love of patients and other nurses. It was a tremendous honor to be nominated and awarded such a prestigious award, and it has had me thinking about legacy since then.
I don’t think many people start their nursing careers thinking about a dynamic legacy they want to have at the end of their career. Even ambitious, driven nurses probably think about the things they want to accomplish, rather than their overall legacy. This has been true of me. In every role I’ve had (bedside RN, charge nurse, RN IV Clinical Expert, APP (now clinical specialist), and now as a director, I’ve sought to carry out the responsibilities of each of those roles in the best way I know how. One might think that, as the Magnet Program Director for an organization that finally achieved Magnet Designation for the first time after 15 or so years of being on the journey, it would be the crowning achievement of their career. Could anything top that? The journey to Magnet Designation has no doubt been one of the greatest things I’ve ever been involved in, and I’m extremely proud of it. But there are so many things I’ve had the great honor and pleasure of “leading” throughout my career – the time that I supported an anxious nurse through starting an IV on a patient that was a difficult stick; the summer I spent with nursing externs, mentoring and shaping them as they were about to enter practice; the time I cared for an extremely ill premature infant and coordinated a team to facilitate skin-to-skin with the mother; mentoring an RN IV to complete a systematic literature review; easing the transition of life to death for the family of an infant with a terminal diagnosis. All of these events and more are part of my nursing legacy, just as they are part of yours.
Legacy is often understood as the total impact a professional has had in their career, when they are nearing the end of their career, but we are all engaged in a living legacy.
A living legacy involves being intentional about the impact you have as you carry out your role. One website describes a living legacy as
“…living a life that inspires and guides others. It’s about making positive memories that resonate now and ripple through into future times. When you focus on creating a living legacy, you see and feel the profound impact of your actions while you’re still here” (Lifebook Memoirs, 2025)
Key aspects of a living legacy include:
- Being intentional
- Having dynamic impact
- Making meaningful connections
- Inspiring others
- Creating positive change
As I continue to reflect on this unexpected honor and all the moments that have shaped my own career and how I’ve impacted others, I’m reminded that legacy isn’t reserved for the end of a career—it’s something we build every day, in every interaction. Whether you’re just beginning your journey or decades into it, your presence, your choices, your care—they matter deeply. You are already leaving a mark. My hope is that each of us continues to live our legacy with intention: to lead with heart, to lift others up, and to create ripples of compassion, knowledge, and inspiration that will outlast us all.
