A special week to thank a nurse

South Florida Sun-Sentinel:


"National Nurses Week started Friday and runs through Thursday, a time to pay tribute to this country's 2.7 million nurses. The profession of nursing was added to a Gallup Poll ranking occupations for honesty and integrity in 1999, and since then has consistently finished at the top of the list.

At the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, we admire and appreciate the knowledge, skills and abilities that nurses bring to the care of the public. Nurses care, heal and comfort people. Imagine a world without nurses! Nurses are the eyes, ears, head, heart and hands of many health-care institutions.

Think of the last time you encountered a nurse. Nurses make a positive difference for people who are sick and cannot care for themselves. Nurses also promote health and educate people so they can manage their own health care regimens. Nurses inoculate our children. Nurses care for our elderly parents and make the communities in which we live healthier.

Front-line clinicians often touch us the most directly. In the background, nurses conduct research, teach and help to develop policy.

So this week, I invite you to do what many people think of, yet few act upon: Thank a nurse who has made a difference in your life. After you've done that, I invite you to share your story with the nurses in my organization at nursingknowledge.org and click on 'tell us your story.'"



Daniel J. Pesut is president of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International. In this role, he looks strategically at the organization’s future while maintaining a respectful commitment to the heritage of the world’s oldest nursing honorary. He comes at a critical juncture: Its membership faces the daunting task of transforming and streamlining the organization while leaving its venerable rituals intact.