Nurses Unite for National Solutions to Address the Patient Care Crisis During National Nurses Week
WASHINGTON, DC - At a time when quality, affordable health care is increasingly out of reach for most American families, registered nurses are joining together across the country to identify the problems driving the crisis in care and offer real solutions at the bedside. During National Nurses Week (May 6-12), nurses are gathering from Sacramento to St. Louis to Washington, DC, to speak out about the hospital practices that are driving nurses from the profession and develop a new plan for addressing the crisis through legislative, regulatory, and partnership driven solutions.
Celebrating Nurses Week Across the Country
Nurses will kick-off Nurses Week celebrations in New York at Rockefeller Center outside NBC's Today Show with signs, banners, and scrubs asking viewers, "Have You Hugged a Nurse Today?" In Washington DC, nurses are joining with academics and policy experts to brief legislators on the growing patient care crisis and urge their support for federal legislation setting safer staffing practices. In Sacramento, nurses from across the state are holding a legislative conference with special guest Jack Needleman, PhD, a leading researcher on nursing issues. San Antonio nurses are holding a rally with elected officials and community groups to pass a city council resolution recognizing the critical role nurses play in reforming the city's broken health care system. And in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, nurses are coming together to celebrate the 40th anniversary of having a voice on the job on patient care issues.
People across the country will be sending eCards to nurses and sharing their thoughts about the valuable work nurses provide to patients everyday. The eCards can be sent at the Value Care, Value Nurses web site (www.ValueCareValueNurses.org).
"Nurses are problem solvers - that's what we do everyday. When a patient is sick we evaluate, diagnose, and put them on the path to recovery. Just like a sick patient, our health care system needs our help," said Cathy Singer-Glasson, a registered nurse from Iowa with nearly 20 years of experience caring for patients in the Intensive Care Unit. "Nurses are joining together across the country to put our hospitals on a path to recovery that leads to better patient care."
Thousands of registered nurses launched the Value Care, Value Nurses campaign in March to raise awareness about the obstacles nurses face in providing patient care and find real solutions in our nation's hospitals. The campaign is a national initiative of the Nurse Alliance of SEIU - one of the nation's largest nurse organizations and part of the nation's largest and fastest growing health care workers union. Through the Nurse Alliance, union and non-union nurses have an opportunity to work together and share their ideas for improving patient care.