"I was more inspired than encouraged to enter nursing leadership by my father. My father was a politician (senator and Senate president) and served for many years as a public leader. As nursing has always been my first passion, I worked hard to achieve my goal. After watching my father over the years, running his own business and leading the Senate, it was almost natural for me to gravitate to a leadership role as I pursued my career in nursing.

"Working as a nurse leader affords me the opportunity to blend these passions. To this day my father is my mentor. He helps to guide me in my career path, yet keeps me grounded every step of the way. The most valuable lesson he has taught me was to be true to myself as a leader. Represent what you believe in, and stand for what is important to you as an individual. Never compromise your own values in your role and remain honest."

- Deborah M. Baker, MBA, RN
Chief Nurse Executive
Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, MA

"My desire to become a nursing leader has truly been an evolutionary process influenced by the many nurse colleagues who I have been privileged to know and work beside over the past 21Ú2 decades. As I consider, even for just a moment, some of those special individuals and precious experiences, I conjure a screenplay of vivid life-changing lessons from dedicated professionals who took the time to share with me and nurture the art and science of caring for other human beings with integrity, compassion and precision.

"I want to especially acknowledge my mother, who has been my life-long mentor. She is a nurse leader, who has never settled for less than excellence and role modeled the ability, courage and commitment to become a pioneer in advanced practice nursing in northern Maine more than 30 years ago. I will always be grateful for her influence and encouragement for me to pursue this truly honorable profession.

"Florence Nightingale in her wisdom, as a certain nursing leader shared, 'I think one's feelings waste themselves in words, they ought all to be distilled into actions which bring results. My work is my must.'"

- Lynn Forbes Turnbull, MHA, RN
Vice President of Nursing Services
The Aroostook Medical Center, Presque Isle, ME

"Susan Grant, MS, RN, encouraged me to go into nursing leadership. Susan nurtured my interest in leadership and taught me about transparency and the importance of a leadership connection to staff. I often think of Susan when confronting difficult challenges. Her strong sense of calm thoughtfulness and her true connection to her staff are strengths of her leadership style that stand out for me and have provided me guidance over the years."

- Lisa O'Connor, MS, BSN, RN, NEA-BC
Vice President of Nursing
Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA

"I was encouraged by my staff educator at the time. I was a staff nurse in a SICU and my educator had held many positions prior to finding her passion in education. One of those positions was as the nurse manager of the unit. Her clarity of the care of the patient and the unique contribution every nurse and nursing role played in that care was affirming for me. She encouraged me to take an assistant nurse manager role, and eventually I became the nurse manager of the unit and she continued to work with me as the educator. The most valuable lesson was to always support the care of the patient and the nurse who is providing that care. She also knew 'supporting' the nurse was a complex task nurse leaders needed to always have as a marker of success."

- Judy M Hayes, MSN, RN
Vice President of Nursing/CNO
Faulkner Hospital, Jamaica Plain, MA

"Two people in my life influenced me. Early on, my mother-in-law, Helen Glidden, RN, was DON in a small hospital in Northern Maine. I learned from her and her colleagues that being a nurse administrator can be as rewarding as being a direct care provider working in med/surg or the ED for example, just in a different way. She taught me that doing the right thing for the patient is the right thing for nurses, too, and that advocating for safe, quality patient care and for other nurses was important work.

"The second person was my former nursing director at New England Rehabilitation Hospital, Beverly Wecal, MBA, RN. She taught me many things - the value of patience, of being committed to patient-centered care (before it was the next new thing), to try to listen, think and then speak, and to never forget my roots: personal or professional. I am extremely lucky to have had these two wonderful women as role models in my life. My sincere hope is that I might have positively influenced some other nurse to seek the challenges and rewards of nursing leadership as well."

- Elizabeth Glidden, BSN, RN, CRRN
Chief Nursing Officer
New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland, Portland, ME

"My director of nursing at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, Westchester Division, prior to the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital merger, encouraged me into nursing leadership. I was a clinical nurse specialist and research associate at Cornell Medical College and was looking for a research position at the Westchester Division. The director, Mary Anne Hurley, RN, asked me to take on an assistant director of nursing position, stating I would get to use both my clinical and analytical skills all the time in an administrative/leadership role. I found she was right! The most valuable lesson she taught me was to be visible and listen well to others."

- Mary Jane Krebs, APRN-BC
Chief Clinical and Nursing Officer
Spring Harbor Hospital, Westbrook, ME

"Janet McIsaac, RN, nurse manager of the hematology oncology unit at Tufts-New England Medical Center in 1976, was a tremendous role model for me. I learned a tremendous amount from her about compassion, expert care and respectful communication within our own discipline and with interdisciplinary colleagues."

- Patricia Reid Ponte, DNSc, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN,
Senior Vice President of Patient Care Service and Chief Nurse/Director of Oncology Nursing and Clinical Services
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA