Editorial: Predicting the Future

Abstract

When I was 8 years old, a small carnival came to town and set up their colourful tents and scary rides in a field near my home. What excitement for me, but not because of the games of chance or rides. Instead I was captivated by a sign in front of one of the tents that read, ‘MADAME ZELDA KNOWS ALL’. Here was my opportunity to learn my future, what I would be, what I would become. Much to my dismay, I was told I had to be 18 to have Madame Zelda tell my fortune. To an 8-year-old that seemed a dumb rule since I thought my future would be over by the time I reached 18. As I grew older (over 18) and wiser (I hope), I abandoned ideas of learning my future from the Madame Zeldas of this world. However I continued to believe that the future could be predicted by studying trends, historic events, economic stability and other seemingly important predictors. Today futurists are engaged in just such activities, intent on clarifying the future so that we can be prepared to deal with or take advantage of it. Yet whether it is fortune tellers looking into crystal balls or professional futurists reading critical indicators, neither seem capable of telling us with certainty what to expect in the years ahead. Technological advances unknown today, and which we cannot predict, will affect our future. Unforeseen catastrophic events, natural and man-made, can change the course of history. We cannot know which governments will be stable or unstable, which will encourage development or cause deterioration of regions of the world. With all this uncertainty, we continue to act as though we know what the future will be and we continue to prepare for it. And that is because, as professional nurses, we neither predict nor react to tomorrow's events…we actively create them. Everyday nurses help families prepare for the future, teaching them skills that enable them to care for their loved ones. Daily, nurses design educational programs to improve the health of the people of their communities. These are not the Madame Zelda or futurists' types of predictions. As nurses we do not passively wait for the next event to occur. As health care professionals, we take determined and planned action to help people shape their futures. I still have enough of the 8-year-old girl in me to want Madame Zelda to appear and predict tomorrow. But the ‘real me’ knows better and takes great pride in being part of a profession whose members spend every day of their lives creating a better future for others. We welcome responses from readers. Please send letters or comments to: International Nursing Review, 3 place Jean-Marteau, CH 1201-Geneva, Switzerland Or e-mail your comments to: J. Harrington, Editorial Co-ordinator, harringt@uni2a.unige.ch