EDITORIAL BOARD OUTLOOK
A Few Minutes With Sharon Chappy PhD, RN, CNOR
BIOGRAPHY I am currently the dean of the School of Nursing at Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin. I have been in this position since August 1, 2014, after having been at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh for 17 years. I am passionate about nursing and teaching, and the move into the dean role expanded my ability to advocate for students, promote professional development in faculty, and provide service to the nursing profession. Before my teaching roles, I was a perioperative nurse manager for more than 10 years. After advanced education led me into a teaching role, I still practiced as a perioperative staff nurse. Working during the summer months in the OR charged my nursing battery. It gave me the opportunity to connect theory with practice, making me a more credible educator. One of my proudest accomplishments is collaborating with practice partners to develop a successful perioperative immersion clinical rotation for senior-level baccalaureate nursing students that is thriving across Wisconsin today.
Question: What was your first writing experience, and what keeps you going?
phenomenal mentors that I had who provided feedback and guidance on my work. Writing allows me to get my message out to the largest audience. I am thrilled when I see an article that I have written cited in another manuscript. That tells me that my work matters.
Question: If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring author, what would you say?
Answer: Writing is like anything else in life; it takes practice to get good at it. Write what you are passionate about. Always write with a particular audience or journal in mind. Be sure to follow author guidelines very closely (all journals have them). Don’t be discouraged by reviewer and editor feedback, which is meant to help you improve your work. Typically an author may have to submit 10 items to get one accepted. But if you don’t submit, it’s 100% certain that you will never get anything published! Question: What perioperative nursing topics are you passionate about and why?
Answer: My first writing experiences that were recognized as good were in high school. I won several writing contests. One was a Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award. I got a very special trophy for the essay I wrote and was invited to lunch to receive the awarddI remember it so vividly. As I progressed through college and graduate school, my writing improved to a new level, often due to the
Answer: I am passionate about topics related to patient safety. We all know the inherent dangers in the perioperative environment. Nurses never go to work thinking, “I’m going to harm a patient today.” But we all know that errors happen. So the more we can learn about keeping patients safe, the better off our patients and our profession will be.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aorn.2015.02.005 ª AORN, Inc, 2015
www.aornjournal.org
AORN Journal j 511
A Few Minutes With Sharon Chappy PhD, RN, CNOR
BIOGRAPHY I am currently the dean of the School of Nursing at Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin. I have been in this position since August 1, 2014, after having been at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh for 17 years. I am passionate about nursing and teaching, and the move into the dean role expanded my ability to advocate for students, promote professional development in faculty, and provide service to the nursing profession. Before my teaching roles, I was a perioperative nurse manager for more than 10 years. After advanced education led me into a teaching role, I still practiced as a perioperative staff nurse. Working during the summer months in the OR charged my nursing battery. It gave me the opportunity to connect theory with practice, making me a more credible educator. One of my proudest accomplishments is collaborating with practice partners to develop a successful perioperative immersion clinical rotation for senior-level baccalaureate nursing students that is thriving across Wisconsin today.
Question: What was your first writing experience, and what keeps you going?
phenomenal mentors that I had who provided feedback and guidance on my work. Writing allows me to get my message out to the largest audience. I am thrilled when I see an article that I have written cited in another manuscript. That tells me that my work matters.
Question: If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring author, what would you say?
Answer: Writing is like anything else in life; it takes practice to get good at it. Write what you are passionate about. Always write with a particular audience or journal in mind. Be sure to follow author guidelines very closely (all journals have them). Don’t be discouraged by reviewer and editor feedback, which is meant to help you improve your work. Typically an author may have to submit 10 items to get one accepted. But if you don’t submit, it’s 100% certain that you will never get anything published! Question: What perioperative nursing topics are you passionate about and why?
Answer: My first writing experiences that were recognized as good were in high school. I won several writing contests. One was a Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award. I got a very special trophy for the essay I wrote and was invited to lunch to receive the awarddI remember it so vividly. As I progressed through college and graduate school, my writing improved to a new level, often due to the
Answer: I am passionate about topics related to patient safety. We all know the inherent dangers in the perioperative environment. Nurses never go to work thinking, “I’m going to harm a patient today.” But we all know that errors happen. So the more we can learn about keeping patients safe, the better off our patients and our profession will be.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aorn.2015.02.005 ª AORN, Inc, 2015
www.aornjournal.org
AORN Journal j 511
