Carnie Wilson Thanks Nurses

Champagne glasses clinked and colleagues toasted to another year of progress for AACN during yesterday’s Chapter Presidents’ Luncheon in the International Ballroom of the Hilton Chicago Hotel. AACN President Dave Hanson recognized AACN members and chapters for their extraordinary efforts and guest speaker Carnie Wilson joined in the celebration praising nurses for their hard work.

“Since we are all so used to helping others, this is a day to honor yourselves and for me to honor you,” Wilson said.

Relating on a Personal Level

Wilson, renowned singer and former member of the famed group, Wilson Phillips, underwent gastric bypass surgery nine years ago and her experiences with the nursing staff left a lasting impression. She termed nurses as fearless, trustworthy, patient, loving and confident, among other things. Lifelong struggles with health issues sparked a desire in Wilson to help others, a trait familiar to every member in the room.

“I’ve been overweight since I was a little girl and I will always have this need in my heart to reach out to people that have health problems or battle obesity and to people that help other people,” Wilson said.

She thanked the nurses for their contribution to her own and others’ journeys to a healthy life, but stressed the need for rewarding themselves as well.

“You should pat yourselves on the backs for helping and loving other people, but don’t leave here today without hearing my little voice in your head saying, ‘I’m going to do something nice for myself’ and really take in the honor and the recognition because you deserve it,” Wilson said.

Spreading a Message of Health

“One of the messages for me that I keep in my heart is that if you don’t like something about yourself, you can change it,” Wilson said.

In her mission to help others gain control of their health, Wilson has authored two books, Gut Feelings and I’m Still Hungry and launched a successful Web site, which touches the lives of 600,000 people each month.

Throughout her life, Wilson has come to realize that achieving optimal health has a lot to do with accountability and focusing “on the now.”

“I strive for progress, not perfection, and that takes a lot of pressure off of me,” she said.

Wilson openly discussed her ups and downs with weight and alcohol abuse and described the feeling of sharing her story with others as “freeing.”

“When I speak like this, when I speak my mind and heart, somebody else is going to leave here thinking ‘I really get that,’” she said.

Wilson did not escape the room without showing off her vocals. When one nurse asked her to sing, she graciously piped out a line from the Beach Boys song, “God Only Knows.”

The luncheon was sponsored by Covidien.