Over the last year, I have been able to work with a great group of Respiratory Therapists. I have learned a great deal from the NSRC board and committee members, NSRC members and AARC leaders. I hope that my knowledge, experiences and leadership that I shared over the last year were valuable in helping our society move forward together in 2019-2020.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with the board and committee members on a few initiatives. Our work consisted of aligning with our mission and values for short and long term goals. We also focused on increasing our membership, being more interactive on social media, and being able to offer a wider variety of educational opportunities, especially to have been offered at our annual state conference. However, the cancellation of the NSRC Conference in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic was disappointing.  I am confident that we will offer an exciting conference next year addressing topics of interest.

As we look to the future of our profession, I hope that we will continue to have faith and hope that there will be some glimpse of normalcy.  It will be important for each of us to be involved in how our profession advances through and following this pandemic. Staying safe and being attentive to the daily practices in our current environments should be our focus. I know that we will do this together as respiratory therapists.

Jill Sand will be serving as our next NSRC president effective June 1, 2020. I am confident that she will effectively lead us in coordinating and communicating about all the NSRC activities during her term. A special thank you to Corey Mohnike, Delegate A, for his dedication and years of volunteering as a NSRC board member over the years. I thank you all for what you have done and continue to do for our profession.

Respectfully,
Lil O’Neill, MA, RRT
Past NSRC President