When I was asked by Annie Wiest to tell my story of how I entered the specialty of employee health in healthcare, it took me a few days to be able to articulate the journey. I suspect that, like many of you, this was not my planned destination. It is actually the end of a rather scenic journey, with many twists and turns, bumps and detours, ending with a sense of being in the right place.

As a young nurse working the ER night shifts in Boston, I remember thinking I wanted to be able to help nurses be better nurses. It was a random thought and soon forgotten – but remembered years later. Fast forward through 20 years of a wonderful nursing career, in ERs across the country as a traveling nurse, then on to family practice and then into the peri operative world at my current employer.

One day, while waiting in line for my flu shot and feeling sorry for the sole RN running the program, I offered to draw up flu shots for her. Remembering my family practice days, the assembly line began. The next year, I volunteered to help again and had fun seeing my friends and colleagues line up voluntarily for their flu shots. Little did I know where volunteering for the flu shots would lead.

Several months later, the EH Nurse Manager came to find me on duty, tapped me on the shoulder and pulled me into a private room.  She had just submitted her retirement paperwork and personally came to invite me to apply for her position. I had not thought of employee health nursing and didn’t know much about it, except for giving flu shots. But it was time for a change, so I applied and became more and more intrigued as I learned about the unique specialty. A few months later in my new position, I remembered my late-night random thought about helping nurses and knew I was in the right place. It was the place where I was supposed to be all along, except that my reality was bigger than imagined. Instead of helping only nurses be better nurses, I was helping all healthcare workers be better and safer.

Again, like many of you, my learning was done at the table of AOHP chapter meetings and via email consults with my new colleagues. My first National Conference (Sacramento 2006) was where my knowledge came together and, more importantly, when I gained the confidence to reach out for advice when I didn’t know what to do next. After awhile, I began to actively participate in AOHP to give back to the specialty that has given me my place, my skills, as well as my professional passion.

It is delightful to now be the one to extend a personal invitation to others to help them find their place and, most importantly, to help employee health nurses be better employee health nurses through volunteering with AOHP.

It is with this in mind that I challenge you.

Who can you invite into this specialty? A tap on the shoulder and private conversation might be the beginning for someone else. Think of the new hires you see. Who can you invite to explore our specialty when they are ready to learn something new? Do you have an opportunity to talk to student RNs at your facility while in line or on the elevator? Who in your professional community might you invite to an AOHP meeting or talk to about an upcoming conference?

And, most importantly, get involved with your local AOHP chapter for colleagueship, education and a place where your work is understood and where you can be taken care of while you take care of others.

Nancy Johnson, BSN, RN, COHN-S