This week not only marks National Hospital Week, but it also marks National Nurses Week! We use this time each year as an opportunity to say thank you to all the dedicated nurses across our state, because they are central to our health care system. These incredibly intelligent men and women are on the front lines of health care, caring for us and our families, and helping us keep healthy.
National Nurses Week spans May 6-12 each year, concluding on the birthday of the late Florence Nightingale. May 8 is always recognized as National Nurses Day. In addition to being a time for celebration, Nurses Week and Nurses Day are also times for reflection for many nurses, offering an opportunity to reconnect with the passion that inspired them to take up the profession.
But it’s not always an easy job. Being a nurse requires a diverse skillset, including the ability to think critically and solve challenging problems to care for patients. Many of WSHA’s initiatives directly rely on these skills, as nurses help our state collectively reduce the likelihood of patients needing to be readmitted to the hospital, reduce the rates of hospital-acquired infections, foster meaningful engagement between patients, families and hospital caregivers, and so much more. We simply couldn’t do our work of improving care in the Pacific Northwest without them.
Thank you to nurses everywhere for what you do for your communities. We will always appreciate the skill and passion you bring to work every day.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Graves, RN
WSHA Vice President for Patient Safety & Quality Operations
jenniferg@wsha.org
