Courtesy Sonja Vogel
Westlake Hospital and West Suburban Medical Center join their colleagues in healthcare around the country in celebrating National Nurses Week from May 6-12. The theme for National Nurses Week 2013 is “Delivering Quality and Innovation in Patient Care.”
The Hospitals are celebrating with a number of activities and events, including raffles, blessings of the hands, ice cream socials, meals and flowers for nurses, guest lectures on this year’s Nurses Week theme, an invitation for nurses to wear “Crazy Scrubs/Hats/Jackets” and encouraging all employees to show their gratitude to the nursing staff.
“We are so grateful for the dedication, commitment, and tireless efforts of our nurses and for the quality care they provide seven days a week, 365 days a year,” says Sharon Freyer, R.N., Chief Nursing Officer, Westlake Hospital. “They are our ‘front line’ in healthcare, providing the majority of the direct patient care on a day-to-day basis. People who choose nursing as a career are individuals who feel a real calling to care for others and who know that they have the strength and stamina to be able to handle the challenges of the profession.”
“Nurses’ Week is always a time for us to celebrate with our colleagues our shared commitment to our chosen career,” says Roz Lennon, R.N., M.S., Chief Nursing Officer, West Suburban Medical Center. “Now, more than ever, nurses are being called on to be creative, think and care ‘beyond our hospital borders,’ transition into the community, develop new models of care and focus on the broader needs of those we serve. It gives me a great deal of pride to know that our nurses are the guardians of our healthcare system and the voice of the future of our industry and our profession.”
National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Traditionally, National Nurses Week is devoted to highlighting the diverse ways in which registered nurses, who comprise the largest health care profession, are working to improve health care. From bedside nursing in hospitals and long-term care facilities to the halls of research institutions, state legislatures and Congress, the depth and breadth of the nursing profession is meeting the expanding health care needs of American society.
