ONA New Director of Health Policy: Is it just a job for her?

I received the Ohio Nurses Association Member Update this week. This was mentioned in the update:

ONA Welcomes Terri Tran as Director of Health Policy

ONA is proud to announce that Terri Tran, RN, JD has joined ONA as the new Director of Health Policy, formerly held by ONA's Deputy Executive Officer, Jan Lanier. Look for an article about Terri in the March/April issue of the Ohio Nurses Review.

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Ms. Tran's previous employment was with the Ohio Board of Nursing where she was an Adjudication Coordinator. As an Adjudication Coordinator and Board Attorney she drafted Consent Agreements (a contract that constitutes action against the license of a nurse, whether its a public reprimand, probation, suspension, and/or revocation) and worked in the Compliance Section of the Board of Nursing.

As an attorney with the Ohio Board of Nursing her role was to advocate for public and protect the public from unsafe nursing care. In her new role as the Director of Health Policy for the Ohio Nurses Nurses, she is advocating for Ohio nurses and the professional practice of nursing. Wow, what a change! 

I don't think I could make that type of career and employment leap personally. That would be like me as a defense attorney winding down my practice and then accepting a position with the Ohio, Kentucky, or Indiana Boards of Nursing prosecuting complaints against nurses. I couldn't do it; defending nurses is a passion and a career for me, not just a job.

I transitioned from hospital based peds to adult home care seven years ago and it was tough and there was a learning curve with the meds, disease processes, charting, environment, etc. I like adult med-surg home care cases now and don't usually take peds cases.

Could you? Would you? Could you and have you work both ends of the spectrum?  Or do you look at it as being a job until something else comes along? All of us however have had positions where we work to pay the bills and until something else comes along. Are you waiting for something else to come along or do you have the dream position description now?