Welcome to the Academic Nursing Leadership Conference! It is such a treat to be here with you all in Washington, D.C. during AACN's 50th anniversary.

Many members of our society face more debilitating conditions associated with Alzheimer's Disease. In Arizona alone, more than 120,000 people are living with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia. Dementias are also the fourth leading cause of death in Arizona and the number of cases is expected to rise by 43% by 2025.

<p>There is something satisfying about the start of a new semester. It’s a clean slate for returning students and a fresh start for first-year students. As a university, ASU pulls out all the stops to make the first few weeks on-campus as hospitable as possible for every Sun Devil</p>

School supplies and lesson plans are all part of a successful start to a new academic year for children. But the start of school also means immunizations, health screenings and monitoring the overall health and well-being of the incoming students. All of this and more are on the back-to-school to-do checklists of school nurses.

Withered potted plants, pavement too hot for pets to walk on, air conditioning that seems to run nonstop. These are just a few of the things that are part of my new "normal" as I spend my second summer as a Phoenix transplant.