Jonas Center Spotlight Jonas Center's Amy Warren Covers National Nurses Week 2012
The history of Nurses Day can be traced back to 1953 when Dorothy Sutherland of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare sent a proposal to President Eisenhower to proclaim a "Nurse Day" each year. In 1981, a resolution was initiated by nurses in New Mexico to have May 6th declared "National Recognition Day for Nurses." In 1981, a proposal was signed by President Reagan, making May 6th the official day of celebration. It was later expanded by the ANA Board of Directors in 1990 to a week-long celebration (May 6-12) known as "National Nurses Week,” falling on nurse legend Florence Nightingale’s birthday.
Today, National Nurses Week is one of the nation's largest health care events, recognizing the contributions and commitments nurses make and educating the public about the significant work they perform. The week-long celebration is designed to accommodate the variety of schedules nurses are required to work.
Often described as an art and a science, nursing is a profession that embraces dedicated individuals with a variety of talents and expertise. Nurses are everywhere in our society. They work in emergency rooms, school-based clinics, universities, and home health care - just to name a few. Nurses have many roles – from staff nurse to educator to nurse practitioner and nurse researcher. Nurses are becoming executives and PhDs, even post-doctoral fellows.
About six years ago, Barbara and Donald Jonas made a philanthropic decision to invest in the profession of nursing. By funding doctoral level scholars at some of the nation’s finest nursing schools, they are making a huge impact by strengthening the nursing profession through education. “Nurses are the backbone of the American healthcare system and underappreciated by the public. It is essential that we support nurses and the vital role they play in our hospitals, schools, clinics, nursing homes and on the battlefield.” – Donald Jonas, Co-founder, Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence
Two years ago the Jonas Center represented 50 scholars in 17 states and today we can proudly say that we have more than 250 scholars across all 50 states, branching out the Jonas vision of higher education for nurses. The Jonas Nurse Leaders Program is just one of the initiatives supported by the Jonas Center. The Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program and support for several of the profession’s leadership conferences across the country are just a few other places the Jonas Center is strengthening the future for nurses.
National Nurses week is an important week for the Jonas Center to recognize all of the care and hard work nurses provide to patients, communities, and our society at each and every moment of the day. Please take a moment to think about how a nurse- clinical, faculty, or researcher - has positively impacted your life as a patient or student.
To learn more about how the Jonas Center is making a difference in nursing please visit: www.jonascenter.org.
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