If you're wondering why National Nurses Week, the week when we celebrate and recognize the full range of contributions made to our communities by nurses, kicks off on a Tuesday – the answer is waiting for you on the last day. Nurses Week kicks off on May 6th each year so it can conclude seven days later, on May 12th, Florence Nightingale's birthday.
Nightingale, a nurse during the Crimean War in the mid-1800s, has long been considered the founder and icon of modern nursing, thanks to her tenacity caring for soldiers during the war and her peacetime work that emphasized the sanitary design of hospitals. The pledge every new nurse takes is still called the Nightingale Pledge in her honor.
Today, the American Nurses Association uses the week leading up to Nightingale's birthday to recognize nurses' roles as "leaders in improving the quality of care and expanding access to care." According to the ANA, for the past 12 years, Americans queried by the Gallup organization have placed nursing at the top of the list of professions when rated on honesty and ethics. This year, the ANA highlights the diverse roles nurses play in health care, including "clinicians, administrators, researchers, educators and policymakers."
"All nurses are leaders, whether they are in direct patient care, administrative roles, or meeting consumers' needs in new roles such as care coordinators or wellness coaches," said ANA President Karen A. Daley, PhD, RN, FAAN. "This week, we acknowledge nurses' vast contributions and how they are leading the way in improving health care and ultimately, the health of the nation."
Additionally, the ANA wants to recognize nurses for "leading initiatives to increase access to care and improve outcomes by focusing on primary care, prevention, wellness, chronic disease management and the coordination of care among health care providers and settings. These are areas in which nurses excel given their education and experience."
The organization predicts, "as the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented, nurses will be more crucial than ever, leading efforts to expand primary care at community-based clinics and deliver more efficient and cost-effective care as members of collaborative health care teams. Consider that: nursing is the nation's largest health care profession, with nearly three million employed professionals; nursing is projected to grow faster than all other occupations, according to the federal government, which projects more than one million new RNs will be needed by 2022 to fill new jobs and replace RNs who leave the profession. Demand for nursing care will grow rapidly as Baby Boomers swell Medicare enrollment by 50 percent by 2025 and millions of individuals obtain new or better access to care under the health care reform law."
Other areas where nurses are rapidly creating and expanding new job roles include nurse navigators, care-coordinator specialists, and nurse wellness coaches. These nurses help patients secure resources, obtain seamless comprehensive care, and develop healthy lifestyle practices, according to the ANA.
"Wherever health care is provided, a nurse is likely to be there – hospitals, ambulatory care centers, private practices, retail and urgent care clinics, nurse-managed health centers, homes, schools, nursing homes, and public and nonprofit agencies. Increasingly, nurses with advanced degrees, such as nurse practitioners, are providing primary care services and managing chronic illnesses. Studies show patients are highly satisfied with their services and are experiencing outcomes comparable to those of physician services," points out Adam Sachs, of the ANA Communications department.
Employment numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show job growth in the health care sector as "outpacing the growth realized in 2011, accounting for one out of every five new jobs created. As the largest segment of the healthcare workforce, RNs likely will be recruited to fill many of these new positions." In total, the BLS reports 296,900 jobs were added to the healthcare sector in 2011.
Additionally, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing is forecasting that "the United States is projected to have a nursing shortage that is expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows. Compounding the problem is the fact that nursing colleges and universities across the country are struggling to expand enrollment levels to meet the rising demand for nursing care." The AACN is concerned about the shortage of registered nurses and is "working with schools, policy makers, kindred organizations, and the media to bring attention to this health care crisis. AACN is working to enact legislation, identify strategies, and form collaborations to address the nursing shortage."
It is clear. Present circumstances point to nursing as a highly in-demand field providing vast opportunities for those willing to follow in the footsteps of caring individuals who are up to the challenge – individuals much like Florence Nightingale.