International Nurses Day is May 12, 2009

At every important stage of our lives, it seems that nurses are present. Instructing, comforting, listening, and healing, nurses are there when we arrive as newborns, when we begin our own families and when the challenges of serious illness and old age emerge. This week, May 6-12, is National Nurses Week, celebrated in recognition of the priceless contributions nurses have made to our quality of life.

In 1996, the American Nurses' Association designated May 6-12 as permanent dates for Nurses Week, so that the celebration would end on Florence Nightingale's birthday, one of our nation’s most famous nurses. This year, National Nurses Week opens on May 6, Registered Nurse Recognition Day, and the American Nurses Association (ANA), with the help of its constituent state nurses associations, will recognize America’s 2.7 million registered nurses (RNs) by drawing special attention to nurse staffing issues. Nurses will also be honored at numerous rallies, health screenings and hospital events around the country.

Professional nursing care is indispensable to providing quality care to sick patients. With advances in technology and life-saving medical procedures, Americans have seen their predicted life spans lengthen during the past century. The demand for qualified registered nursing services are increasing rapidly because of America’s aging population and the enormous growth of home health services.

At the same time, there is a tremendous shortage of certified nurses. This, along with the deteriorating working conditions for registered nurses and lack of teaching facilities, are putting a severe strain on both the nursing workforce and our hospitals and heath care providers.

That is why it is imperative that resources for nursing recruitment and education be made a priority. In November 2001, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that more than one million new nurses will be needed by the year 2010. The government projected that the nation could face a shortfall of half a million nurses by 2015.

Defining grace under pressure, nurses rule with compassion and commitment. Let us all take the time to recognise our nurses and thank each of them for a job well done.

Happy Nurse's Week