Introduction
November 15, 2010
CJCCN Editorial Team
Edmonton was alive with the voices of critical care nurses in September at Dynamics 2010. Four hundred and forty critical care nurses to be exact… and what a noise we made together, as we shared our knowledge, told our stories, played, laughed and enjoyed each other’s company for three days. I sat in the audience listening to many presentations and was in awe (but not surprised) of the expertise nurses had to share and had taken the time to speak on a subject or a story that needed to be told. I sat there with pride recognizing that I was a member of a very crucial group of nurses in Canada who have a lot to say when given the opportunity. But why do we wait sometimes to be “given” the opportunity to speak? We definitely have a lot to say when we are asked, and when we speak with conviction, when we speak from experience, when we speak from the position of trust the public has in us, people listen. You don’t survive in critical care by being a wallflower. You are a critical care nurse and every day you speak, often on behalf of your patients and families who need you to be their voice.
