We are now moving into a more preparatory phase, which is both challenging and frightening. Just the same, change is here and we are here, so let's see how we can make the new ideas work for our benefit and the benefit of our patients. Threads of commonalty weave through our lives. The thread that pulls us together can also be the thread that pulls us apart. In nursing, image is that thread.
Image is a commanding essence that can empower as well as destroy.
Image also includes how we regard ourselves, an aspect that is particularly destructive and painful to nurses. It is up to us to untie the knots in this tangled web of our discontent so that we can find the taut lifeline to our future. It was an image of ourselves as helpers, comforters of the sick and wounded that brought us to nursing. Ours was a noble fantasy that brought out the best in us. We saw ourselves bathed in the positive light of respect and high esteem.