President's Message | 8.21.2025
August President's Message
August is almost over, and do you know what that means? Well for some of us it means our kids are headed back to school and the “routine” of school, work and life begins for another year now that summer break is over. Some of us have kids just starting school and others of us have kids graduating from high school. Others have just dropped their kids off at college for the first time or they are anticipating this last year of college for their kids. For others it means that another semester of classes starts as they continue to pursue their degree and look for places to do clinicals or projects. Still for others this month starts the move towards retirement.
All of us have times in the year that signals the beginning of a new chapter in our lives or the continuation of a current chapter. Wherever you find yourself, I would ask you to take a few moments and reflect on the path that you have traveled so far and then take some time to envision the future and where you want to go over the next few years. As you look back you will see some obstacles that you overcame to get to this part of your journey. That accomplishment is something to celebrate. As you look forward, I want to encourage you to make your vision bigger than the obstacles you perceive in front of you. One of my mentors told me that if your obstacles obstruct your vision, your vision is too small. That is how I feel about NAON. As I look back, we as an organization have overcome some big obstacles. We could not have done that without you, our members. As we envision the future of NAON we will face obstacles but having a vision that is greater than the obstacles means that we can work together to achieve that vision. That means that we will need you, our members involved in helping us achieve it. If you would like to be involved in a Special Interest Group, one of our committees, work as an author on one of our publications or move along the path to involvement as a leader of the association, please fill out our Willingness to Serve form, which can be found here. I look forward to having your participation in helping us GROW the Future of NAON.
Matt Lowe MDiv, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, ONC