To the AMSN members, my name is Marisa Streelman, and I am excited to begin my presidency for AMSN in 2023.
When I started attending meetings and volunteering for AMSN I did not see myself in this position. However, my engagement in nursing has continued to grow with the work I have done with AMSN, and this has led me to continue to be a leader for medical-surgical nurses.
For those of you that do not know me - I wanted to take this first Connections article to introduce myself and tell you about my career path which led me to AMSN.
My nursing career actually started in high school, with a program at our local skilled trade school. I grew up in Flint, Michigan, and applied for and was accepted in a program which was offered to Genesee County students. It was called Careers In Health. I learned medical terminology, spent time in the local hospitals with different disciplines, and trained as a certified nurse assistant.
This honed my career choice to nursing, as this position spent the most time with patients. After high school, I headed to Eastern Michigan University and received a BSN. I then moved to Chicago, IL and started working as a clinical nurse on an oncology unit at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. This was a great experience, and I really felt a connection to nursing and to working in a specialty. After a few years, I was mentored into a nurse manager role on a medicine unit.
This is when my love for medical-surgical nursing grew. One of the first things I did was get CMSRN certified. I wanted to model the importance of certification and to show others certification is a way to demonstrate you are an expert in your nursing specialty. Then I worked with great nurses to establish the Chicago AMSN Chapter #317.
The local chapter inspired me to create medical-surgical nursing as a specialty within my nursing community. I enjoyed my time establishing and working with the local chapter and I encourage any of you to join or start a local chapter.
My life took a few twists and turns with a nurse manager position at University of Colorado Hospital-on a Cardiac Step-Down Unit, then back to Chicago and Rush University Medical Center, to manage a medicine unit. During both of these nursing positions I met great people and learned different ways leaders can make an impact.
Most recently, I returned to Michigan to be closer to family, where I took a position as a staff specialist for three years, and now I am the strategic advisor for the Chief Nurse Executive with Michigan Medicine. In my current role, I work closely with nursing leadership on the nursing strategic plan, philanthropy, leadership development, and other special projects.
While in Chicago, I completed my Master’s in Nursing - Administrative Studies at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), and my Doctorate in Nursing Practice - Transformational Leadership - Systems at Rush University.
While in Colorado, I began working at the national level with AMSN for the scholarships and awards committee. This was a great first step into volunteer leadership for me. I loved rewarding other medical-surgical nurses with grants and opportunities.
We called it the “fun” committee! Then, in a big leap of faith, I applied for the Board of Directors in 2015. I wanted to continue to pave the way for medical-surgical nurses on a national level in this role. I completed 3 years as treasurer, and 3 years as a director on the board which prepared me to apply for the President-Elect and now President positions.
One of the main reasons I applied for the president position for AMSN is to continue the great work our organization is doing to support medical-surgical nurses. AMSN is leading our nurses in many ways, at the national and international level.
I want to be part of creating a path forward for nurses through this pandemic and serving this great community. I wish you all the best in 2023, as we move forward with new opportunities for each other and AMSN.
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