Spotting celebrities

I arrived safely in Hong Kong, courtesy of Cathay Pacific, especially grateful for a business-class upgrade that afforded me eight hours of sleep. The temperature is high for this time of year, and the humidity is overpowering. The shortest walk ends in rivulets of sweat cascading down your back, and a once neatly pressed shirt clings to your body like film wrap.

I made it to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai just in time for the day’s events to close, but this was fortunate as I was able to position myself strategically in the exhibitor area, where drinks were being handed out and where I could spot many nursing celebrities. First to pass by was President-Elect Cathy Catrambone, and I have the photographic proof. Cathy and I were together in Basel, Switzerland recently to help launch the Global Advisory Panel on the Future of Nursing (GAPFON). In fact, I spotted so many nursing celebrities it was hard to know who to speak to first. I have several in my sights.

Yours Truly and President-Elect Cathy Catrambone

The day ended in Hutong restaurant, courtesy of Wiley, with some seasoned editors, including Brendan McCormack, one of the International Nursing Hall of Fame inductees. At the dinner, I showed Brendan a photograph in my iPhone of me with another Hall of Famer, Sally Wai-Chi Chan, PhD, FAAN, now at Newcastle University, New South Wales, Australia. She was holding the very large coloured glass ornament—the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame award—that was presented to her at her induction last year. It was intended to show Brendan what to expect by way of something to adorn his office. Brendan pointed out that I was wearing the same shirt tonight as I was in the photograph. As far as I am concerned, the war of words and mutual insults begins. I have made sure that I have an unmistakably different shirt for tomorrow.

Brendan McCormack with Debra Jackson, editor-in-chief of Journal of Clinical Nursing.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International. Comments are moderated. Those that promote products or services will not be posted.