Beverly Sigl Felten
Beverly Sigl Felten
- PhD, RN, APNPCredentials: PhD, RN, APNP
Place of Employment: Gero-Psych Nursing, S.C.
Which Nursing Organizations are you currently a member of: American Nurses Association
Board(s) currently serving on: English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association, Cudahy Kennel Club
Tell us about your journey to the boardroom. What inspired you to seek a leadership position?
Ethics, responsibility, preparation, and discomfort with the status quo. Shortly after coming onto the ESSFTA board, I learned of this organization being a leader in supporting Canine Health Organization research. In response to discussion, I volunteered to write a lay synopsis of each of the five grants supported by ESSFTA focusing on tick borne illness. In those summaries, I used my PhD in nursing research to explain why each of these studies was important, how each added to the knowledge, integrated how this information applied to human health, and explained how the each of supported studies related to the other four. I previously was on the board of Citizens Against Drug/Impaired Drivers (CANDID).
What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as a leader?
More thinking outside the box and applying that.
What impact have you had serving on a board? Example?
Positive feedback from other board members who had no idea nurses were educated in research or had organizational leadership and business management skills.
What advice would you give someone going into a board leadership position for the first time?
Apply yourself and stretch.
What are a few resources you would recommend to someone looking to gain insight into becoming a better leader and eventually obtaining a board position?
Understand business management and imagine yourself steering a large ship in the middle of the ocean.
Why do you feel it is important for nurses to serve on boards?
Nurses are very well educated and need to show more of what they know.
What do you think is the most significant barrier to nurses serving on boards?
The stereotypes surrounding nurses and nursing.
Boards: English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association, Cudahy Kennel ClubContinue Reading
The Nurses on Boards Coalition (NOBC) represents national nursing and other organizations working to build healthier communities in America by increasing nurses’ presence on corporate, health-related, and other boards, panels, and commissions.