34 THE QUEENS COURIER • MAY 2, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
nurses week
Honoring nurses and their life-saving work
National Nurses Week begins each year
on May 6 and ends on May 12, Florence
Nightingale’s birthday. Th ese 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.
Th e 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.
Th e ANA supports and encourages
National Nurses Week recognition programs
through the state and district nurses
associations, other specialty nursing organizations,
educational facilities, 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. Th e proclamation
was never made.
• 1954: National Nurse Week was observed
from October 11 - 16. Th e 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: Th e House of Representatives presented
a resolution for President Nixon
to proclaim “National Registered Nurse
Day.” It did not occur.
• January 1974: Th e 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: Th e 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: Th e 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: Th e ANA Board of
Directors formally acknowledged May
6, 1982 as “National Nurses Day.” Th e
action affi rmed 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: Th e ANA Board of Directors
expanded the recognition of nurses to
a week-long celebration, declaring May
6-12, 1991, as National Nurses Week.
• 1993: Th e ANA Board of Directors designated
May 6-12 as permanent dates to
observe National Nurses Week in 1994
and in all subsequent years.
• 1996: Th e 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. Th e ANA encourages
its state and territorial nurses associations
and other organizations to
acknowledge May 6, 1996 as “National
RN Recognition Day.”
• 1997: Th e 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
The Nightingale
Pledge
Similar to the Hippocratic
Oath taken by doctors, the
Nightingale Pledge is recited by
nurses upon their completion
from nursing school as a commitment
to serving the patients
with care.
The pledge is named for
the famed nurse Florence
Nightingale, an English reformer
who gained prominence by
training many of the nurses who
treated the wounded during the
Crimean War in the mid-1800s.
She’s considered to be the founder
of modern nursing worldwide.
Over the years, the Nightingale
Pledge has evolved, with the
wording changed to meet the
times. Today, most nurses recite
the “Practical Nurse Pledge” in
making their commitment to
this vocation serving people in
need:
Before God and those assembled
here, I solemnly pledge;
To adhere to the code of ethics
of the nursing profession;
To co-operate faithfully with
the other members of the nursing
team and to carryout sic faithfully
and to the best of my ability
the instructions of the physician
or the nurse who may be assigned
to supervise my work;
I will not do anything evil or
malicious and I will not knowingly
give any harmful drug or assist
in malpractice.
I will not reveal any confidential
information that may come
to my knowledge in the course of
my work.
And I pledge myself to do all
in my power to raise the standards
and prestige of the practical
nursing;
May my life be devoted to service
and to the high ideals of the
nursing profession
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