May marks National Nurses month, and National Nurses Week is from Friday, May 6th to Thursday, May 12th
Did you know that nurses make up the largest group of health care professionals in the United States? Nurses are highly specialized professionals with a wide range of skills and specialties that make them an important link between patients and doctors to provide quality, safe and equitable health care.
History of Nurses Week
Modern nursing is credited to Florence Nightingale, who laid the foundation for professional nursing through her tireless work during and after the Crimean War. Florence Nightingale was an English nurse, a social reformer and a statistician who founded the key pillars of modern nursing.
Known as the Lady with the Lamp, Florence Nightingale started work as nurse in-charge of the British and allied soldiers wounded during the Crimean War. She spent most of her time caring and comforting the injured and was the first to establish formal training for nurses. The first nursing school – the Nightingale School of Nursing – was inaugurated in London in 1860. Florence Nightingale was a key figure behind setting up a training school for midwives as well. She was the first woman who was awarded the Order of Merit 1907.
To acknowledge the contributions of nurses and call attention to their working conditions, the International Council of Nurses established May 12 – Florence Nightingale’s birthday – as International Nurses Day in 1974. The celebration was extended to a week a few years later, and National Nurses Week was officially born in 1994. The American Nurses Association now proudly observes May as National Nurses Month to celebrate the profession’s essential contributions to health care and how they are making a difference in the communities they serve. Now nurses play major roles throughout health care, giving care and leading care systems – a core discipline in all of healthcare.
Partners’ Nursing Staff
Partners currently has 29 nurses total employed in our Home and Community Based Alternative Waiver Program (HCBA), our Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP), Network Services, and our Enhanced Care Management (ECM) Team. We celebrate and recognize our incredible nursing staff and are grateful for their outstanding work in ensuring quality care for our participants.
On behalf of the Board, Executive Team, and the entire Partners Staff, we express our warmest respect and appreciation for Nurses and their heroic work, day-in and day-out, on behalf of our clients.
June Simmons and the Executive Staff
