A Message From The President

Connecticut Nursing News, Mar-May 2005 by Lippman, Dee

There are so many important events to comment on since my last President's Message. Let me start with the Tsunami that devastated so many countries, from Thailand to India. In 1968, while serving as a captain in the Army Nurse Corps during the war in Vietnam with my husband, also a captain in the Army Medical Corps, we had the opportunity to spend time in Thailand.

Thailand is a beautiful country but just as "beautiful" is the experience of being with the people, the families and the children. As military personnel, my husband and I have had the opportunity to visit and live in many countries from France to Japan. Each brings its own "special personality" and I was very taken with how the people of Thailand and the other tsunami-struck countries were able to deal with the impact of such an overwhelming, tragic and unpredictable event. In the weeks months and years to come, they will face the aftermath, often presenting in the form of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), of the tsunami. I hope and pray that the resources that rushed to their aid right after the tsunami struck will continue to provide long-term support. There was a large part of me that wanted to rush to their aid much in the same way that my husband and I did during the war in Vietnam. Life circumstances do not permit me to do this right now, but I know many nurses have responded to the call for help, not a surprise to those of us who have chosen the helping profession of nursing

I would also like to highlight the inspiring courage of the Iraqi people, who, even in the face of possible death, exercised their right to vote. It should be a message to all of those who have the freedom to vote and don't. I am reminded of how long women in our country had to wait to win the right to vote. I visualize petite nurse suffragette Lavinia Dock marching with her placard demanding that women be given the right to vote. She was in fact arrested for her efforts. How quickly many people, even women, forget the hard fought battles waged to obtain freedoms.

I hope that both of these recent world-shaking events stay in the hearts and minds of the American people. I hope that we will always be there for those faced with devastating tragedies and that we will always exercise our right to vote.

Dee Lippman, RN, PhD