It doesn't look like much but that is a map of North America Region 15 of STTI. The region encompasses the states Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts(what?! what?!), New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Nova Scotia. We are a pretty interesting bunch to say the least. The best thing about having a meeting of just Region 15 folks is that I finally got to see some people who did not have a Southern Drawl! I know that might sound silly, but there are only so many colloquialisms about a rabbit that I can hear before I miss a good Southie Accent, or an Eh?
Our Region is currently presided over by Valerie Sauda who is a wonderful geriatric nurse from Maine. She is funny, kind, and knowledgeable. While in the regional meeting I felt good listening to her speak about the Region as a whole because she truly had a sense of the issues throughout the region and the wonderful accomplishments the different chapters in the region had achieved.
Speaking of the accomplishments of Region 15....I was really impressed. I always knew that we had many great schools of nursing in the Northeast, but the idea that 6 of the 78 Chapter Key Awards were from our region (Gamma Epsilon included!!!) and one of those chapters was receiving a Chapter Key Award for the 10th time I could not believe it!! Everyone in the room was so impressive and it was nice to be amongst people who understood the shared issues in our geographic area; snowstorms, ice-covered highways, and freezing temperatures.
Beyond the Chapter Key Awards I learned that there are three women running from Region 15 for some form of international leadership position. Not only do we have amazing chapters in Region 15, but the leaders from those chapters that we are able to produce are equally as fantastic.
Another part of the Region 15 meeting was the review of some of the events that had gone on in the past 2 years. The highlight was our regional research conference held at Salve Regina University. Between the mansions, ocean, and nursing research how could you possibly beat our regional research conference??
One of the most fun parts of the Region 15 meeting for me was the sharing of ideas to increase chapter engagement with its members and the community at large. The creative ways some members were reaching their philanthropic goals including: bring a canned good to the meeting, do a clothing/emergency bag collection for DCF, or even help with fundraising efforts for other organizations were all impressive and simple. Learning about the video one chapter created to explain to potential new members exactly what STTI is and what its members do was an innovative way to get new students excited about their potential membership.
Ending the meeting I took away a few ideas and desires. Primarily, my desire to become more involved in such an active region and be partners with some of the long term (is that better than old time?) Sigma Theta Tau members grew at least 10 fold just from the Region 15 meeting. I could not be happier to be from North America Region 15..
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