[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 644 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 644

    Recognizing National Nurses Week on May 6 through May 12, 2012.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 7, 2012

   Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas (for herself, Mrs. Capps, Mr. 
  LaTourette, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Gonzalez, Ms. 
  Hahn, Mr. Rothman of New Jersey, Ms. Norton, Mr. Moran, Ms. Lee of 
   California, Mr. Schrader, Mr. Dingell, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Lewis of 
Georgia, Ms. Richardson, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Speier, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, 
 Mr. Levin, Mr. Faleomavaega, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Jackson of 
Illinois, Mr. Hanna, Mr. Rush, Ms. Slaughter, Ms. Moore, Mr. Carnahan, 
  Ms. Hirono, Mr. Rahall, Mr. Olver, Ms. McCollum, Mrs. Ellmers, Mr. 
Braley of Iowa, Mr. Israel, Mr. Clarke of Michigan, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. 
 Brown of Florida, Ms. Schwartz, Mr. Higgins, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of 
   California, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Barletta, Ms. Chu, Mr. Boswell, Mr. 
  Filner, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. DeLauro, Mrs. Maloney, Ms. 
 Fudge, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Loebsack, Mr. Sablan, Mr. Holt, Mr. 
Ruppersberger, Mr. Coble, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Pastor of Arizona, 
  Mr. Sherman, Ms. Clarke of New York, and Mr. Bilbray) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Recognizing National Nurses Week on May 6 through May 12, 2012.

Whereas since 1999, National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, also 
        known as National Recognition Day for Nurses, through May 12, the 
        birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing;
Whereas National Nurses Week is a time of year to reflect on the important 
        contributions that nurses make to provide safe, high-quality health 
        care;
Whereas nurses are known to be patient advocates, acting fearlessly to protect 
        the lives of those under their care;
Whereas nurses represent the largest single component of the health care 
        profession, with an estimated population of 3,100,000 registered nurses 
        in the United States;
Whereas nurses are experienced researchers, and their work encompasses a wide 
        scope of scientific inquiry including clinical research, health systems 
        and outcomes research, and nursing education research;
Whereas nurses provide culturally and ethnically competent care and are 
        increasingly being educated to be sensitive to regional and community 
        customs of persons needing care;
Whereas nurses are best positioned to provide leadership to eliminate health 
        care disparities that exist in the Nation;
Whereas nurses help inform and educate the public to improve the practice of all 
        nurses and, more importantly, the health and safety of the patients they 
        care for;
Whereas the nationwide nursing shortage has caused dedicated nurses to work 
        longer hours and care for more acutely ill patients;
Whereas nurses are strong allies to Congress as they help inform, educate, and 
        work closely with legislators to improve the education, retention, 
        recruitment, and practice of all nurses and, more importantly, the 
        health and safety of the patients they care for; and
Whereas increased Federal and State support is needed to enhance existing 
        programs and create new programs to educate nursing students at all 
        levels, to increase the number of faculty members to educate nursing 
        students, to create clinical sites and have the appropriately prepared 
        nurses to teach and train at those sites, to create educational 
        opportunities to retain nurses in the profession, and to educate and 
        train more nurse research scientists who can discover new nursing care 
        models to improve the health status of the Nation's diverse population: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the significant contributions of nurses to 
        the health care system of the United States;
            (2) supports the goals and ideals of National Nurses Week, 
        as founded by the American Nurses Association; and
            (3) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
        National Nurses Week with appropriate recognition, ceremonies, 
        activities, and programs to demonstrate the importance of 
        nurses to the everyday lives of patients.
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