Whereas since 1999, National Nurses Week is celebrated
annually from May 8, also known as National Recognition Day for Nurses, through
May 14, 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 2,900,000
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 American Association of Colleges of Nursing
(AACN) released preliminary survey data showing that enrollment in entry-level
baccalaureate nursing programs increased by only 2 percent from 2007 to 2008,
and though this marks the eighth consecutive year of enrollment growth, the
annual increase in student capacity in 4-year nursing programs has declined
sharply since 2003 when enrollment was up by 16.6 percent;
Whereas United States nursing programs were forced to
reject almost 100,000 qualified applications to nursing programs according to
the National League for Nursing's most recent survey of all prelicensure
nursing programs;
Whereas the nationwide nursing shortage has caused
dedicated nurses to work longer hours and care for more acutely ill
patients;
Whereas nurse educators work on average more than 57 hours
per week in order to ensure that each and every new registered nurse receives
an excellent education, advancing excellence among the next generation of
nurses;
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
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.