Think about the moment you decided to become a nurse. Something moved you. Something called you. And whatever that was, it was bigger than a job title, bigger than a paycheck, bigger than a checklist of tasks to complete before the end of a shift. There is no profession like nursing. None. You are simultaneously a scientist, an advocate, a counselor, a caregiver, and the calm in someone’s most frightening storm. Something happened recently that caused me to stop and really reflect. It reminded me of my why…
I met a nurse…her name is Nova.
Nova is a new graduate nurse. Just seven months into her career, she did something that takes most of us years to do. She asked a question. She reached out and asked for support in attending a conference. That kind of courage, that ownership of your own growth and development at seven months in, is not small. It is everything. And we said yes.
We made a decision, one we had never made before, to believe in a new graduate nurse enough to send her to a professional conference. Nova attended the Neuroscience Nursing Conference nervous, humble, and wide open. And what came back wasn’t just a nurse with new knowledge. What came back was a nurse on fire.
She presented what she learned to not one, not two, but three different groups made up of her peers and leaders from across the organization. She came back talking about launching a stroke boot camp for patients. She came back committed to pursuing her stroke and neuroscience certification and already thinking about how to bring others along with her. In her own words: “It has inspired me to explore initiating a stroke boot camp for our stroke patients and to begin working toward obtaining my stroke and neuroscience certification, while also encouraging and supporting others to pursue certification to elevate care.”
Seven months in. Already thinking about the next nurse. Already thinking about the next patient. Already thinking about legacy.
I have to be honest with you. I was scared. Not about sending Nova to a conference, not specifically about nursing at UAMS, but about our profession. About whether the fire that called so many of us into nursing was still being passed on the way it deserves to be passed on. About whether the nurses coming behind us would carry it forward with the same passion and purpose that brought us here.
And then I listened to Nova present her conference experience. And I exhaled. Because Nova isn’t an anomaly. Nova is what happens when passion already lives inside someone, and someone simply says we see you; we believe in you, go. And she went. And she came back and immediately began pouring into everyone around her all that she learned and experienced. That is the cycle of excellence. That is what “All In” looks like when it is lived out loud.
But here is what I need you to hear: there is a Nova on every floor of this hospital. In every clinic. On every unit. Some of them are seven months in, wide-eyed and on fire. Some of them are seven years in, quietly doing extraordinary work that never gets a spotlight. Some of them are seventeen years in, still showing up with the same passion that called them into this profession in the first place and pouring it into every new nurse who comes behind them.
You are Nova. Nova is you.
And that is why how we show up matters. Every interaction, every shift, every moment you are present with a patient, a colleague, or a student is a direct expression of that fire. Presence is a form of care. Pride in our work is a form of excellence. Professionalism isn’t about perfection; it’s about honoring the weight of what we carry and the privilege of being trusted with people on their hardest days. When you show up fully with intention, with passion, with pride, you are not just doing your job. You are carrying this profession forward. You are protecting what nursing is and what it is becoming.
Nova, this is my nod to you. If you’re reading this, I must tell you again…thank you. Thank you for fanning the flame in me that needed it. Thank you for restoring my hope for the future of nursing. You may have been nervous about going, but you came back ready to build something. We poured into you because we believed in you. And you poured it right back. We will keep pouring into you because you have shown all of us exactly what happens when desire meets opportunity. You are the future of nursing. And the future is in good hands.
To every nurse who has taken the “All In” pledge, this is what it looks like. It looks like Nova. It looks like you on your best days. It looks like showing up with presence, with pride, with purpose and choosing to pour into the person standing next to you. It looks like Stephanie, Valarie, Chloe, Jennifer, and LeCole nurses on H7 who showed me in real time, during a recent rounding visit, exactly what “All In” looks like in action. They knew I was there. And they showed up the same way they would have if I wasn’t. That tells you everything you need to know. That is the pledge lived out loud.
I am again pledging my “All In” to Nova, to every Nova in this building, to this profession we are so privileged to carry. We are all in ASPIREing to care for each patient, each family, and each other. Not because someone told us to. But because that is who we are. That is what it means to be a UAMS nurse.
And I would know. I am just shy of seven months at UAMS myself, and there is nothing quite like it.
