Nurses—One body, one voice

Abstract

Nancy J. Girard, RN This month we recognize and honor nurses during National Nurses Week, which occurs May 6 to 12. It ends on May 12 to commemorate the birthday of Florence Nightingale. This year's theme is “Nurses: Lifting Spirits, Touching Lives.” The American Nurses Association (ANA), along with many specialty organizations, including AORN, supports nurses and nursing. This year, National Student Nurses Day and National School Nurse Day also will be celebrated during National Nurses Week. In addition, National Nurses Week has become International Nurses Week in recent years, as nurses around the world band together with a common theme of celebrating the good work of nurses. The ANA has been active in supporting nursing since 1897. Each state and territorial ANA affiliate holds celebrations during National Nurses Week. They encourage nurse recognition programs and publicize the contributions nurses make to society and individuals. The history of the effort to gain a special recognition day for all nurses began in 1953 when Dorothy Sutherland of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare asked President Dwight D. Eisenhower to proclaim a “Nurse Day.” Unfortunately, this did not happen. In 1972, a proposal was made to President Richard M. Nixon to proclaim a National Registered Nurse Day. Once again, this did not occur. In 1974, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) proclaimed that May 12 would be International Nurse Day, to correspond with Nightingale's birthday, and they have sponsored International Nurse Day every year since. In February of 1974, President Nixon issued a proclamation designating a week as National Nurses Week. In 1978, Edward Scanlan of Red Bank, NJ, worked to get May 6 listed in Chase's Calendar of Annual Events as National Nurse Day and began promoting the celebration. Finally on March 25,1982, President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation proclaiming National Recognition Day for Nurses to be May 6,1982, and May 6 to 12 became a permanent week for celebration in 1994.1 Perioperative nurses regularly celebrate during our own national week of identity, which occurs in November. We frequently forget, however, that we are part of a whole. We are nurses first and foremost, regardless of where we practice. Although it is fine to celebrate our specialty, we must not forget the rest of our family. Nurses are a very diverse group, and we tend to voluntarily fragment ourselves further every year. We have broken into specialty groups, work site groups, ethnic groups, gender groups, and educational groups. We have become so territorial that any nurse outside our group is suspect. For example, why is it that nurses outside the perioperative arena often think we do not do nursing? Why it that many nurses think that a nurse with an associate's degree is not as professional as one with a bachelor's degree? Why is it that often perioper-ative nurses who work in an office-based surgery center or a gastrointestinal laboratory are not considered real peri-operative nurses? Why do we sometimes think that anyone in education is not a real nurse? We all are nurses. We all learned the nursing language and were taught the same skills. We all had the same anatomy and physiology courses and had to write nursing care plans. We all perform nursing tasks, regardless of any other detail. We assess patients, plan care, give care, and evaluate care. Why then do we not celebrate the profession of nursing regardless of any artificial grouping we devise? Nurses still are highly respected health care professionals. It is sad, but someday, we all will need a nurse to care for us or a family member. We will want the best nurse possible, whether it is in the OR, rehabilitation institution, or at home. In our celebrations this month, we must consider how we act and what we do to stimulate interest in nursing opportunities. AORN is involved actively with many projects to do just that. The Association is working with many organizations, such as the ANA and other nursing groups, and members are learning how to encourage young people to choose nursing as a profession. In celebration of National Nurses Week this year, let's all pledge to unite and not diversify nursing in thought and deed. Let's pledge to work together for the common good of the public and the profession. Let's pledge to respect each other and recognize that nurses are nurses, no matter where they work, who they are, or how they got where they are. Let's pledge to show young people that nursing is a dynamic, interesting, and wonderful career that will last a lifetime. Let's pledge to become one body and one voice. Happy National Nurses Week to all you wonderful nurses here at home and around the world.