Salute to Nurses © ADOBE STOCK SALUTE TO NURSES | SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION Take Time to Thank a Nurse Any day is a good day to celebrate America’s nurses. After all, every day patients enter medical offices and facilities and spend more time with nurses than any other health care provider. But since 1993, the American Nurses Association has set aside a week to celebrate and elevate the nursing profession. This year, National Nursing Week is set for May 6-12 and features a host of events to honor the four million nurses across the country for the work they do. A special day set aside to honor nurses began in 1965 with Nurse’s Day, with the intent of raising public aware- ness of the important role and contributions nurses make to society, according to Nurses. © ADOBE STOCK com. An unofficial Nurses Week stretches back a decade about nursing is our ordinary end of our shift like many of Medical Quality, a shortage lenging and rewarding career earlier in 1954 to mark the is actually extraordinary. We other professions,” Mensik of registered nurses is project- field. 100th anniversary of Florence provide an amazing service to wrote. “We are there to help at ed to spread across the nation Nurses are truly the unsung Nightingale’s mission to the public, whether in hospi- a moment’s notice because we through 2030, with the South heroes of the health care pro- Crimea. tals, clinics, long-term care or care. That perspective of caring and West begin most affected. fession. They are dedicated to Then, as now, nurses are on in the community,” said is always with us and we On the upside, registered healing, compassionate care the front lines of a caring pro- Jennifer Mensik, a nurse who believe we are doing what any nursing is listed among the top and touch the lives of millions fession. On-duty around the wrote about how she cele- other person might do in the occupations for growth oppor- with their devotion and skills. clock 24/7, nurses are the care- brates her calling in an article same situation — that it was tunity into the next decade, So if you encounter a special givers we most rely on in on Nurse.com. our job.” according to the Bureau of event in your community almost any health care envi- “Being a nurse is not some- Unfortunately, there’s a nurs- Labor Statistics. In other during National Nursing Week, ronment. thing we turn off completely at ing shortage. According to a words, there’s never been a don’t hesitate to attend and “One of my favorite sayings any time. It doesn’t stop at the report in the American Journal better time to enter this chal- thank them. SALUTE TO NURSES | IN THE COMMUNITY Role of School Nurses Many will remember tem with such issues as atten- tion-deficit or hyperactivity the school nurse’s disorder, diabetes, life-threat- office as a place ening allergies and seizures. School nurses, often working where you went to with a school pediatrician, lay down if you felt ill develop medical recommen- dations and administration in and to wait for a the school environment and parent to pick you often beyond. School nurses are also the up. The nurse might first-responders to students also have checked suffering injuries incurred during sports or extracurricu- your temperature lar activities. In the event of an and dispensed an emergency, such as a school shooting, school nurses may aspirin. But today’s be among the first to treat any school nurses do so wounded students. They also play a critical role identifying much more. parental noncompliance with medical home goals, the Academy reports, or if neglect According to the American or abuse is suspected. Academy of Pediatrics, mod- It’s clear that times have ern school nurses: changed dramatically since Assess health complaints, the first school nurse was administer medication and appointed in New York City in care for students with special 1902. That nurse, Lina Rogers, health care needs. tended to the health care Develop contingencies for needs of more than 8,000 stu- managing emergencies and dents in four schools. Because urgent situations. of her success in reducing Manage health screening, absenteeism, the system immunizations and infectious added 12 more nurses and all disease reporting. but eradicated absences due Identify and manage chron- to medical conditions. ic healthcare needs. Although their duties and In fact, school nurses are mandates have expanded the primary caregiver to a © ADOBE STOCK since that time, the core role large portion of students living of the school nurse hasn’t in rural areas that lack other increased academic achieve- working together can be a cial health care needs enter changed: Attendance is key to health care access. They per- ment, improved attendance great example of team-based schools, the school nurse academic achievement. form a critical role in the com- and better graduation rates. care, providing comprehen- becomes a vital link helping Keeping students healthy munity to identify unmet According to the Academy’s sive health services to stu- both students and families to helps ensure they achieve suc- health needs and foster the position paper, school nurses dents, families and their com- reinforce treatment during cess and develop healthy prac- relationship between health and pediatricians, both com- munities. and after the school day. Many tices during the school years and education, resulting in munity- and school-based, As more children with spe- children enter the school sys- and well into their adult lives. SALUTE TO NURSES | EMERGENCY CARE Critical Care in the Air When accidents and life- threatening injuries occur, time is of the essence between the scene and medical care. That’s when air transport staffed by trained medical professionals arrive and their care in the air makes a critical difference. Flight nurses fulfill that crucial role, making sure patients reach the hospi- tal safely and stabilized on board. In-flight medical care is essentially trauma care in the air and these highly trained professionals handle these emergencies in high-stress environ- ments with limited resources. Many flight nurses come from a mil- itary background, where their experi- ence caring for the injured in war-torn battlefield prepares them for the situa- tions they may face treating people in critical situations. Others take to the air from traditional nursing schools or after time spent in hospitals. But like their counterparts in the ER, they per- form the routine functions of prepar- ing medical charts and background for the physicians who will treat them. In the often jarring environment of in-flight care, most often in helicop- © ADOBE STOCK ters, flight nurses perform triage, emergency medical care and act as a hospital straight out of college,” said my goal.’’ any emergencies,” she told the maga- calming influence to what can be a Karen Thurmond, a chief flight nurse Thurmond spent the majority of her zine. “We have lifesaving interventions terrifying experience for their patients. for Orlando Health in Florida in a 2012 nursing career providing in-flight care to get somebody breathing again, to Their primary objective is to keep interview for Orlando Magazine. “And and said her time was almost evenly get their heart started. We have an patients alive to arrive while also I saw the flight team and the critical divided between responding to trau- arsenal of medications for pain. keeping a team on the ground aware care nurses, and I enjoyed the high ma situations, such as car accidents, Oftentimes, it’s just putting a pillow of what to expect when the air ambu- adrenaline and the medical services and caring for patients transferring under their knees. We try to work with lance arrives. aspect of what the flight team did. So I from hospital to hospital. patients to find out what’s best for “I started as a clinical tech at the went to nursing school and made that “We have equipment to deal with them.” SALUTE TO NURSES | IN THE SERVICE Modern Military Nurses Since the dawn of the republic, military nurses have played an important role in treating and caring for our nation’s wounded returning from battle. From the Revolutionary War to America’s global war on terrorism, military nurses are on the front lines and true heroes in their own right. Here are brief profiles of just two modern military nurse legends. PUBLIC DOMAIN/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS PUBLIC DOMAIN/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS ARMY LT. GEN. Horoho Trent-Adams PATRICIA HOROHO Born in 1960 on Fort Bragg, N.C., the daughter of an Army officer, Horoho is aircraft. The explosion killed 23 and woman — and first active-duty black lowed her dream to Hampton the first woman and the first nurse to injured more than 100. At the time, major general — to lead the Army University in Virginia, earning her become Army surgeon general and Horoho was head nurse of the fort’s Medical Command. nursing degree with the aid of an commanding general of the Army emergency room and led the care of ROTC scholarship. Following college, Medical Command. the injured. REAR ADM. SYLVIA Trent-Adams served in the Army Nurse Horoho grew up in North Carolina. Horoho went on to serve in TRENT-ADAMS Corps from 1987-1992. She received her nursing degree from Afghanistan, and was honored by the While her tenure was brief, Rear Drawn to public service, Trent- the University of North Carolina at Red Cross for her actions at the Arm. Sylvia Trent-Adams was the first Adams followed her military career by Chapel Hill in 1982 and earned her Pentagon on the fateful date of Sept.