The work of America’s 3.1 million registered nurses to save lives and to maintain the health of millions of individuals is the focus of this year’s National Nurses Week, celebrated annually May 6-12. Throughout the country, National Nurses Week is recognized by professional associations, healthcare facilities, governments and communities from May 6 (National Nurses Day) to May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.
This year, the American Nurses’ Association (ANA) has selected “Nurses: Leading the Way,” as the theme for 2014’s celebration.
Traditionally, National Nurses’ Week is devoted to highlighting the diverse ways in which registered nurses are working to improve health care. From bedside nursing in hospitals and long-term care facilities to the halls of research institutions, state legislatures and Congress, the depth and breadth of the nursing profession is meeting the expanding health care needs of American society.
Through the years, the roles for nurses have evolved as leaders for change in a vastly changing healthcare environment. In addition to providing safe, high quality healthcare, they must be sensitive to the cultural, regional and community customs of those in their care. Nurses must be advocates for their patients as individuals and positioned to provide leadership to eliminate health disparities in our community and nation. Through outreach, nurses serve as teachers in promoting and educating about healthy lifestyles, disease prevention and health promotion.
Today’s nurses must have the strength to care for patients during times of disaster and crisis; they must have the commitment to remain involved in continuing education throughout their careers; and they must have the compassion it takes to provide hands-on patient care at the bedside – as they have done throughout the centuries.
For St. Luke’s Hospital, National Nurses Week is a time of year to reflect on the important contributions nurses make to provide safe, high-quality health care; to be patient advocates, committed to protect the lives of those under their care; and to be leaders in the delivery of quality care in a transformed health care system that improves patient outcomes and safety.
With nearly 200 skilled nursing professionals on staff, St. Luke’s Hospital is staffed to ensure Polk County has immediate access for emergency care, intensive care, surgical care, general medical-surgical care, orthopedic care, geriatric psychiatric care, education, diabetes outreach, case management, quality measures and information technology.
Please join in celebrating National Nurses Week, May 5-12. This community—and St. Luke’s Hospital—are fortunate for the outstanding group of Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses and Certified Nurse Assistants who provide exceptional care, close to home.
Florence Nightingale Pledge:
I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.
This modified “Hippocratic Oath” was composed in 1893 by Mrs. Lystra E. Gretter and a Committee for the Farrand Training School for Nurses, Detroit, Michigan. It was called the Florence Nightingale Pledge as a token of esteem for the founder of modern nursing. Source: The American Nurses Association

– article submitted
by Kathy Woodham