Nurses Week
May 9 - 12, 2006
This week (May 6-12) is Nurse’s Week. It is a time when we pause to cherish the nurses of our Nation - the heroes of health who dare to care.
Nurses ARE the future of human health and we celebrate your service every day. You are on the frontline of disease prevention and health promotion. You stand ready and prepared to respond to all hazardous events. You are critical in eliminating health disparities and you are the key to establishing health literacy in our nation one person and one population at a time.
In the past 6 months I have had the opportunity to speak with many nurses in the field. I learned that nurses make unbelievable sacrifices to bring care to the underserved and to special forgotten populations. I’ve seen the many different and unique roles nurses play in advocating for safety, in forming policy and in managing the environments in which we work and the information we need. I have had the opportunity to award the daily contributions of nurses and I witnessed the perseverance and strength of nurses in Louisiana who proudly buried Katrina and Rita in a ceremony that echoed “I will survive”. You are all part of that community of care givers and leaders who work to shape a nation of healthy people.
On behalf of the Office of the Surgeon General, I honor and salute your work. Thank you for your service to our Nation. You are our national treasures!
Carol A. Romano, PhD, RN, FAAN
Assistant Surgeon General
Chief Nurse Officer, US Public Health Service
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