(ARA) – One of our most important professions is in critical condition. Over the past decade, the United States has experienced a profound shortage of nurses. With a national vacancy rate for registered nurses (RN) at more than 4 percent, long term programs to support this profession are crucial and with the aging population and shifts in the health care system, the need for nurses is expected to increase even more.
Nurses are the critical, yet sometimes understaffed backbone of medical care in emergency rooms, hospitals, military facilities, clinics, schools, homeless shelters and nursing homes. They often provide the link between patients and their treatment; nurses can help determine the experience we have while visiting a doctor or hospital. They work hard, and at times their contributions may go unnoticed. National Nurses Week, May 6 to 12, is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on, and appreciate, the vital role that nurses play in our lives. So please take the time to thank them for all that they do.
“Nurses truly are society’s caregivers. They are there for all of us when we need them most. Their care, comfort and support truly make a difference in the lives of their patients and families every day,” says Andrea Higham, director of the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future. “Nurses play an incredibly important role in our communities, and we’re committed to supporting this profession so they’ll be able to continue their important and life-saving work.”
The Campaign for Nursing’s Future, established by Johnson & Johnson in 2002, is a national initiative to enhance the image of the nursing profession, recruit new nurses and nurse faculty and help retain nurses currently in the profession. The campaign works in cooperation with professional nursing organizations, schools, hospitals and other health care groups to promote opportunities in nursing and increase awareness of the value of the nursing profession.
The campaign has recently partnered with the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy (UZIT) program – founded by Donna Karan – to engage and focus nurses on their own well-being and personal health as well as to train their peers. Nursing students from around the country were educated about stress reduction techniques at the recent annual National Student Nurses Association (NSNA) meeting, and Johnson & Johnson has awarded qualified nurses scholarships to UZIT, a 500-hour advanced curriculum program focused on integrative modalities and therapies.
Donna Karan is known worldwide as a fashion designer, but her passion and commitment to well being and integrative health care has helped to redefine her as a philanthropist. “At some point in our lives, each one of us will become a patient and we’ll depend on our nurses for care and nurturing,” says Karan, founder of the Urban Zen Foundation. “I will be forever grateful to the nurses who cared for me and my loved ones. Being a care giver is a profound responsibility and an enormous gift given by very special men and women, which is why I’m so proud and excited that the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future has created a scholarship that will provide funding for exceptional nurses to participate in the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy Program.”
Please join the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future during National Nurses Week and take this opportunity to thank a nurse: Post a thank you note on the “Nursing Notes by Johnson & Johnson” Facebook page, www.facebook.com/jnjnursingnotes and click the “Thank a Nurse” tab, or tweet about a time when a nurse helped you using the hashtags #NNW2011, and #ThankaNurse.
And when you see a nurse, make sure you thank him or her today and every day.