[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 52 (Wednesday, May 4, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 4, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   NATIONAL NURSING WEEK, MAY 6 TO 12

 Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I rise today in recognition of 
National Nursing Week. The more than two million nurses in America, who 
all make significant contributions to their communities, deserve our 
thanks and appreciation. Nurses have long supported our Nation's 
efforts to create a health care system that assures access, quality and 
affordable care. As caregivers in a diversity of settings, responsible 
for providing care and coordinating health services 24 hours a day, 
nurses clearly understand the implications of our health system's 
failings.
  A restructured health care system that focuses on consumers and their 
health, with services to be delivered in familiar, convenient sites, 
such as schools, workplaces and homes, will call on nurses to play an 
even greater role. Nurses will help allow the medical profession to 
shift from the predominant focus on illness and cure to an orientation 
toward wellness and care. Health reform will bring many uninsured 
Americans into our regular health care system, raising the question of 
how we will be able to provide primary care for these folks. I think 
that we all know who will be a big part of the answer--America's 
nurses. They are prepared and willing to serve--and we salute them for 
it.
  Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking the nurses 
of this country for their continuous hard work in providing health care 
to people from all walks of life in circumstances that range from 
preventative to life threatening. We should always remember that nurses 
have long been placed at the front lines--in hospitals, nursing homes, 
schools, home health agencies, workplaces, community clinics and 
managed care programs.
  Let us all join them in congratulating them for their hard work and 
our best wishes as we all celebrate National Nursing Week.

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