Name and Credentials: June Clark, RN, DBE, PhD, FRCN
Candidate Position: Director-At-Large
Professional Background
I trained in London, worked in the UK NHS for 25 years, mainly in community health nursing, finally Chief Nurse to Harrow Health Authority. In 1990, I moved to higher education, established the School of Health Care Studies at Middlesex University, then in 1997 to Swansea University, where I remain Professor Emeritus.
In what ways are you qualified for this position and what leadership experience do you have in the honor society and other organizations?
My nursing career has spanned clinical practice (public health nursing), management, teaching and research. Throughout my career, I have developed my own leadership skills and have mentored many other nurses who have become excellent nurse leaders. My beliefs about leadership include the view that leadership is not so much about climbing to the top of the ladder as holding the ladder firm for others to climb.
My commitment to the values and mission of STTI, and to Vision 2020, is total. My commitment to the development of nursing through scholarship and research is unusual among UK nurses of my generation – I was among the first UK nurses to achieve a master’s degree and later a PhD. I have written several books and published many journal articles. I am an excellent communicator, both written and oral.
I have extensive experience with leadership positions both in nursing and in other organizations. In the Royal College of Nursing, I have served as member of council (i.e. the Board of Directors), chairwoman of congress (i.e. the House of Delegates) , chairwoman of several specialty groups (most recently the Information in Nursing Forum), deputy president and finally (1990-94) as president. I hold a Fellowship of the RCN (“for an outstanding contribution to the science and art of nursing”) and the RCN Award of Merit (“in recognition of exceptional service to the RCN”). In 1995, I was invested by HM Queen Elizabeth II as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire “for services to nursing.”
I have extensive experience of international nursing organisations. I have been on several occasions a temporary adviser to WHO Euro and consultant to ICN. I have represented the UK at several European Union committees, and as RCN president at the ICN Council of National Delegates; I also served on the ICN professional services committee and on ICN task groups. I have served as a member of the board of directors of NANDA-I, and I am a founder member of ACENDIO (Association for Common European Nursing Diagnoses Interventions and Outcomes), serving as its first secretary and then as president.
I have been a member of STTI for many years. I presented at the STTI meeting in London in 1999 and was the opening Keynote speaker at the STTI Convention in San Diego later that year. I have served on two STTI task and finish groups (bylaws and education). I was instrumental in establishing the Upsilon Xi at Large Chapter, the first STTI Chapter in UK, and only the third in Europe. I am currently Chapter Treasurer. With colleagues in the other two European chapters, we are currently working on the development of STTI in Europe.
Should you be elected to serve, what would you like to accomplish?
I would hope to contribute to the accomplishment of all the goals set out in Vision 2020, but I have a particular interest in the accomplishment of Goal 2: “The honor society is an intentionally global organization.” I hope to accomplish expansion of STTI membership and influence in Europe, increasing the number of chapters (or honor societies progressing towards chapters) from three to at least 10, and to establish recognition across Europe of STTI as a leading source of nursing knowledge and nursing leadership.