Dear Colleagues,

My message is one of hope that we can move forward in the very near future with a safer environment. Covid-19 has certainly had significant impact in our WOC nursing role as well as on our personal lives. Within our own region, we have not escaped the unrest that has occurred as a result. This pandemic has also exposed race inequalities of which we all remain hopeful can be resolved to bring us all to a better place where all people can live life without hate filtering into our jobs, communities, and families. Despite the current difficulties, we have found ways to continue participation within our own respective geographical locations and places of business. What gives me hope is that our wonderful colleagues seek out suitable alternatives to accomplish what needs to be done in order to keep our lives moving forward in a positive way. If you are wondering what you can do to make a difference, I hope you will check out some of the organizations of interest listed in the government affairs report.

It is time to vote for our next Mideast Region Board of Directors. This year we are voting for Directors 2 and 4, Secretary, and a new President-Elect. I do hope you will take the time, takes only a few minutes, to vote for those who will continue the work of our region. Check your email for details.

This year’s Mideast Region conference will indeed take place, but as a virtual conference. The MER centralized conference planning committee has worked very hard to determine presentations and presenters that are current to issues we face in the clinical areas. The online conference will be available to each member at no cost, and will include continuing education credit for each of the presentations. It will open up in the fall and remain open through the end of the year so you can plan ahead on how you wish to complete the conference. Each presentation will have a CE credit available on-demand so you will not have to wait for your certificates, and you can select the options you wish to complete based on your own education needs. I am also pleased to report that the 2021 conference will proceed in Noblesville, Indiana at the very same Embassy Suites Hotel originally planned for this year. We are quite fortunate that this was not a total loss for this year, and that thanks to many previous years of financially successful conferences, we are in a comfortable place to offer a virtual conference for this year at no charge to our members. Even though our normal conference locations rotating between the states has been altered, it is the plan to resume holding our live conferences in a different state each year. This is one of our main opportunities to connect with our good friends and colleagues, and to widen our professional world through important networking opportunities. This region remains committed to this purpose.

I do hope you were able to attend the WOCNext virtual conference. If not, many of these presentations remain available to WOCN® members through the Continuing Education Center (CEC) off of the WOCN® website. To access this information, simply go to www.wocn.org and select the continuing education tab then CEC. If you have not yet checked out this option, this is a good time to do so. It is also an opportunity for you to double-check your own WOCN® member profile and make sure your information is accurate and up to date. Our annual membership fee does provide many useful benefits, not the least of which is the JWOCN and the education.

My own tenure as president comes to a close October 1^st and Deb Crawford will be your new president. Deb has been a hard-working member of this board for several years and is well-prepared for this new role. I will be passing the gavel at our October virtual membership meeting, along with welcoming new board members. Do hope you can attend and applaud these good colleagues. Do stay tuned to information concerning our membership meeting and our virtual conference. Annual awards will still be announced, this is a great time to go to our website and nominate your colleagues for recognition on the wonderful achievements. Information will be forwarded to you once the details have been finalized, and our own website www.mideastregion.org will have all the information as well.

Wishing you all a pleasant holiday weekend, and fantastic summer,

Linda Stricker, MSN, RN, CWOCN
President, Mideast Region of the WOCN®