A Nurse First

From the start

• Sigma Nursing • Season 6 • Episode 1

Share episode

For Lucas M. Davis, serving as Sigma’s new CEO means honoring a century-long legacy while paving a transformative path forward. His steadfast belief that nurses are truly "first"—the first to care, the first to lead, and the first to drive change in healthcare—fuels his bold vision for Sigma’s future. His mission? To lead with empathy, amplify nurses’ voices, and shape the next chapter of global nursing excellence.

Connect with Sigma:

Nursing is more than just a profession to me. It is a calling that I believe touches every stage of human life. Throughout my life, I've really been continually inspired and impressed by the compassion, the dedication, and the leadership of nurses and nursing professionals. They are truly at the core of global healthcare. They are at the core of really basic humanity, in my opinion, providing not only essential medical care, but endless other support and education to patients, their families and caregivers, as well as advancing research in their own field. That's what's so inspiring about Sigma to me is that we have members and people involved in Sigma that cover all of those areas. We have traditional clinical nurses, we have nursing researchers, and nurses that work in every specialty that you can imagine that are touching human Welcome to A Nurse First. This is Sigma's new CEO, Lucas M. Davis, telling his The reason that I was interested in this job is nurses are first for me. That's where my journey has been driven is by that profound respect for the invaluable role that nurses play and nurse leaders play in people's lives. Other than your family, you are probably most touched by nurses who are caring for you throughout your life, if you really think about it. They are the ones that help give you birth and they will be the ones providing that quality of life dignity care at the very end when we leave this world. And so to me, those reasons alone really harness my deep, unwavering commitment to supporting and making sure that we are empowering them and that Sigma is empowering them. When my phone rang and the first thing that I thought was, wow, this is really an incredible honor as they're offering me the position. And I immediately felt this sense of both gratitude, but also responsibility. So gratitude for the trust that was being placed in me and being offered the position, but also the responsibility to be able to honor Sigma's remarkable legacy while guiding the organization really to this bold, transformative future. The role to me aligns so deeply with my passion for leadership, for creating impact. Really, I have the best job because I have the opportunity to serve this global community of nurses and nurse leaders who are transforming care and improving lives all over the world. So to me, every day, it's incredibly humbling and rewarding just to think of that work and that I actually get to be part of that. As you can imagine, not one day looks like the other, but what gets me excited is being able to collaborate every single day with passionate individuals, whether those be staff members, volunteers, members, donors, sponsors, or other nursing healthcare organizations. The chance to make progress towards Sigma's strategic goals and also See and feel the tangible impact of our work every day on nursing and healthcare energizes me throughout the day and to start each day anew, knowing that I'm a part of this bigger system of these amazing healthcare professionals and nurses that are literally touching the hearts and lives of With over 20 years of experience in executive leadership and education, Lucas has made his mark as a respected association leader. Throughout his career, he's built a reputation for strategic growth and development, a big win for Sigma. Lucas knows how to bring people and big ideas together to build on Sigma's strong foundation and contribute to To be Sigma CEO, to me, it means and resonates with me is that it's really about stewardship. It's honoring a hundred years of advancing global nursing excellence while really continuing to ensure that we be a global force for good. In the nursing profession, Sigma honors and elevates the role of nurses in multiple ways by championing their roles as educators, as researchers, as innovators. Through our grant programs, our global partnerships, the knowledge dissemination that we do at the events that we have, Sigma empowers nurses to conduct research, to improve patient outcomes, to influence healthcare policies. And then initiatives like the Sigma Repository, for example, ensure that nurses remain at the forefront of driving change for their organizations, and that they have access to the research that they need to be able to inform those decisions. And so that's really what I look at our work on a daily basis is, How do we improve that? How do we get nurses the information and the tools that they need? How do we empower them to use those, to use their It's exciting to hear you reflect on these big questions, and your dedication to ensuring nurses have the tools, resources, and support they need to drive real change is palpable. Looking ahead, how do you see Sigma evolving to stay ahead of the curve and continue supporting nurses in such There's a number of ways that I want to make sure that Sigma continues to innovate and meet the evolving needs of our nurses because we know that they're at the forefront of healthcare changes. That has been proven and any great healthcare changes started with nursing because they are the ones that are right there with the patients. I plan on doing this in a number of ways. I'm committed to listening and learning and hearing and providing space for how to support and empower our Sigma nurses globally. I want to leverage data to identify trends, foster a culture of adaptability, and prioritize listening to our members I tend to be a little bit of a futurist at heart. And so I really want to hear from our staff, our members, our donors, our sponsors, our partners, what they view as the future of Sigma. What is the future of global nursing excellence? And that's a really large question, right? And a question that there's just tons of answers to. How can Sigma play a role in nursing as a partner, as a supporter, as an empowerer of global nursing excellence. We're going to be conducting a all-member survey along with some other focus groups about what the future of Sigma looks like for our members and challenges that they're facing currently and opportunities also that they're being presented with about what the future looks like for them. We want to hear that because that's really important for those perspectives to be considered and to be valued and listened to as part as we start really charting the next hundred years of Sigma. I'm really excited about having those conversations in person at events like Creating Healthy Work Environments, the International Nursing Research Congress, and at convention this year. in 2025 and from other events that I'll be at through the year because it has to be a shared vision going forward. It's not Luke's vision. It's not the Sigma CEO vision. It is what vision do our Sigma members have for the future so that Sigma can begin exploring that so that we can peek around corners that we don't even know exist yet. We are stronger together than individually. And we learn more from sharing with each other collaboratively and working toward common goals and visions together. And I think that's the most exciting thing for me to hear are really those bold new ideas about how Sigma can serve them better as our members. but also serve the profession. And let's think even bigger than that. How can Sigma serve humanity in advancing global nursing excellence? Because it's a large world that we live in and we have a role to play in that. And so I want to partner with Thought leaders, I want to stay ahead of industry shifts in nursing to see what that means. And that will really help Sigma develop initiatives that meet the real world challenges that nurses face today and tomorrow. Looking towards the future, I see a bold vision for Sigma. The legacy that I hope to leave at Sigma and that I hope that has already started is one of empowerment, and it's one of transformation. I want Sigma to be seen as an unwavering ally to nurses in the nursing profession, helping them all achieve their full potential while advancing the profession. I think that my leadership will reflect a nurse's importance because I plan and am dedicated and personally feel to champion their work. to amplify their voices and ensuring that they have the resources or tools or support that they need to thrive in their job and in their profession and in their career. And I think Sigma plays Thank you for listening to A Nurse First from Sigma. If you loved this episode, do us a favor and subscribe, rate, and leave us a review. It is very much appreciated. For more information about A Nurse First and Sigma, visit