WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MAY 2, 2019 17
National Nurses Week begins
each year on May 6 and
ends on May 12, Florence
Nightingale’s birthday. These
permanent dates enhance planning
and position National Nurses Week
as an established recognition event.
As of 1998, May 8 was designated
as National Student Nurses Day, to
be celebrated annually. Beginning
in 2003, National School Nurse Day
was designated on the Wednesday
within National Nurses Week each
year.
The nursing profession has been
supported and promoted by the
American Nurses Association (ANA)
since 1896. Each of ANA’s state and
territorial nurses associations
promotes the nursing profession at
the state and regional levels. Each
conducts celebrations on these
dates to recognize the contributions
that nurses and nursing make to the
community.
The ANA supports and encourages
National Nurses Week recognition
programs through the state and
district nurses associations, other
specialty nursing organizations,
educational facil ities, and
independent health care companies
and institutions.
A Brief History of National Nurses
Week
• 1953: Dorothy Sutherland of
the U.S. Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare sent a
proposal to President Eisenhower
to proclaim a “Nurse Day” in
October of the following year. The
proclamation was never made.
• 1954: National Nurse Week was
observed from October 11 - 16. The
year of the observance marked
the 100th anniversary of Florence
Nightingale’s mission to Crimea.
Representative Frances P. Bolton
sponsored the bill for a nurse week.
Apparently, a bill for a National
Nurse Week was introduced in
the 1955 Congress, but no action
was taken. Congress discontinued
its practice of joint resolutions for
national weeks of various kinds.
• 1972: The House of
Representatives presented a
resolution for President Nixon
to proclaim “National Registered
Nurse Day.” It did not occur.
• January 1974: The International
Council of Nurses (ICN) proclaimed
that May 12 would be “International
Nurse Day.” (May 12 is the birthday
of Florence Nightingale.) Since
1965, the ICN has celebrated
“International Nurse Day.”
• February 1974: The White
House designated a week in the
calendar year as National Nurse
Week, and President Nixon issued
a proclamation.
• 1978: New Jersey Governor
Brendon Byrne declared May 6 as
“Nurses Day.” Edward Scanlan, of
Red Bank, N.J., took up the cause
to perpetuate the recognition of
nurses in his state. Mr. Scanlan had
this date listed in Chase’s Calendar
of Annual Events. He promoted the
celebration on his own.
• 1981: The ANA, along with
various nursing organizations,
rallied to support a resolution
initiated by nurses in New Mexico,
through their Congressman,
Manuel Lujan, to have May 6, 1982,
established as “National Recognition
Day for Nurses.”
• February 1982: The ANA Board
of Directors formally acknowledged
May 6, 1982 as “National Nurses
Day.” The action affirmed a joint
resolution of the United States
Congress designating May 6 as
“National Recognition Day for
Nurses.”
• March 25, 1982: President
Reagan signed a proclamation
designating “National Recognition
Day for Nurses” to be May 6, 1982.
• 1990: The ANA Board of
Directors expanded the recognition
of nurses to a week-long celebration,
declaring May 6-12, 1991, as National
Nurses Week.
• 1993: The ANA Board of Directors
designated May 6-12 as permanent
dates to observe National Nurses
Week in 1994 and in all subsequent
years.
• 1996: The ANA initiated “National
RN Recognition Day” on May 6, 1996,
to honor the nation’s indispensable
registered nurses for their tireless
commitment 365 days a year. The
ANA encourages its state and
territorial nurses associations and
other organizations to acknowledge
May 6, 1996 as “National RN
Recognition Day.”
• 1997: The ANA Board of Directors,
at the request of the National Student
Nurses Association, designated May
8 as National Student Nurses Day.
From the American Nurses
Association
NURSES WEEK
Celebrate National Nurses Week in Queens
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