This shortage of nurses can affect your access to health care every day. For example, if you have recently found yourself having to wait for hours to be seen in an ER (emergency room), it is most likely due to the shortage of nurses. This can be either not enough ER nurses, or patients are waiting for vacant beds to be admitted.
If the problem is too many patients waiting for vacant beds, that too is often more a shortage of nurses than a shortage of vacant beds. Nurse-to-patient ratios dictate how many patients can be housed on a unit at one time. If the hospital is short of nurses, beds have to be "closed" until the next shift when hopefully more nurses are available.
Nurses Day and Nurses Week are celebrated each year in May. Florence Nightingale, often said to be the founder of nursing, was born on May 12, and it is often celebrated as Nurses Day. Many Nurses Day or Nurses Week celebrations include the use of the Florence Nightingale Pledge:
"I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care."
This pledge was written in 1893 by Mrs. Lystra E Gretter and the Farrand Training School for Nurses. It is considered an adaptation of the physician's Hippocratic Oath and is often referred to as the nurse's oath. This oath is often recited at graduation or pinning ceremonies for nurse graduates.
The International Council of Nurses, ICN, celebrates International Nurses Day on May 12. In the U.S. Nurses Week is May 6-12 each year. May 6 is Nurses Day in the U.S. The American Nurses Association (ANA) sets the theme. In the UK, Nurses Day is May 12.
In Canada, Nurses Week this year is May 7-13. In Australia, Midwives and Nurses Week is May 5-12 with many different events schedules throughout the week.
These events have been planned by the nursing associations in an effort to raise awareness of the nursing profession. It is hoped that many people will be encouraged to consider a career in nursing.
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