It comes as no surprise to regular Nursetopia readers that I am an advocate for nurses in all levels of leadership in every area of healthcare, business, and the community. I say it frequently, and I quote Nursing Leadership from Bedside to Boardroom, which was released in January 2010, often.

A recent Huffington Post sponsored post, “Want to Improve Health Care? Let Nurses Take the Lead,” echoes what many others have said and continue to say – let nurses do what we do best, which includes leading. The comments on the post show not everyone believes this. One commenter seriously said nurses enter the field for “all the money.” Oh that brought a nice, relaxing belly-laugh. Gaffney, the author of the post, shared the American Hospital Association’s recent survey findings that despite being the largest healthcare profession in the U.S., nurses hold six percent of hospital board positions nationally.

One of my biggest pet peeves is positions that have the burden of responsibility without the privilege of power. Speaks of nursing a bit, doesn’t it? Nurses rule the world. We just don’t know it. Either that or we aren’t unified enough as a profession to stand up as one voice over the yelling few.

What do you think?

Is there a nurse on your hospital or organizational board? Are you one of those six percent of nurses?