National Nurses Week “Ethical Practice. Quality Care.”

Holzer has annually joined with the American Nurses’ Association to recognize May 6-12 as National Nurses Week, an annual opportunity for communities to recognize the full range of nurses’ contributions to healthcare.

This year’s theme, “Nurses: Ethical Practice. Quality Care.” in recognition of the impact ethical nursing practice has on patient outcomes and the quality of care. The public holds nurses in high regard and trusts them to advocate for patients. For the past 13 years, the public has ranked nursing as the top profession for honesty and ethics in an annual Gallup survey.

Holzer Health System is fortunate to employ nursing staff from nurse aides to nurse practitioners, and would like to express appreciation to each and every one during this week.

A few points to consider regarding the nursing profession are:
• 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: The federal government 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.
• Nurses are rapidly creating and expanding new job roles – such as nurse navigators, care coordinator specialists, and nurse wellness coaches — to help patients secure resources, obtain seamless comprehensive care, and develop healthy lifestyle practices.
• All nurses have a critical responsibility to uphold the highest level of quality and ethical standards in their practice to ensure the delivery of superior health care to patients, families and society.
• Ethics is an essential component of everyday nursing practice across all specialties and settings and is inextricably linked to quality care.
• The revised Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements was released in 2015—the first update since 2001. The revision ensures that the Code applies to modern clinical practice and advances in quality, and keeps pace with transformations in health care.

Nurses are leading efforts on three top quality priorities: patient safety, care coordination and patient/family engagement. Nurses provide education, guidance and resources to individuals and/or families managing chronic conditions or an illness, helping patients understand discharge and care plans, medication, appointment follow-ups, referrals and equipment needs. Throughout National Nurses Week and every week, we recognize nurses for the care and commitment they show each and every day.