In celebrating National Nurses Day and Nurses Week, we need to advocate for our profession and for our patients. A National Nurse would help us to promote the wellness model and move away from the sick care model of health care. This would bring about a healthier population and one focused on prevention and wellness. In turn this would help to reduce the costs of health care.
One of the ways we can ALL help to make a National Nurse become a reality is to contact our legislators and ask them to sign on to support, and then help pass HR1119 through the House of Representatives. We also need to get our Senators interested in this issue and bringing a bill to the Senate.
Please remember, The National Nurse Act is non-partisan. Everyone is encouraged to help support this cause to promote the nursing profession and public health for all.
In addition to contacting legislators, I did find that the DNC has asked for public input for issues that need to be focused on for 2012. Please consider filling in their simple online form and asking them to include the National Nurse for Public Health HR1119-the National Nurse Act for 2011 in their agenda.
I have looked high and low for a similar site for the RNC and did not find any. If anyone has information about such a site where we can provide input for the Republican party’s focus, please comment below with the link.
Follow the National Nurse Campaign on Facebook to find out more information and to stay up to date on the status of the campaign.
2 Comments
nbores
I am a nursing student in Michigan and this is an issue that is always brought up in my nursing courses and it is one that we can hopefully change. We have the technology and the resources to promote health and well being and this would have a huge impact on preventable diseases and some of the chronic illnesses that are often seen. In this economy with the rising cost of healthcare and the amount of people who are either uninsured or underinsured, this would benefit both the people and the economy. As nurses, one of our jobs is to be an educator and with a preventative model of health we could teach patients how to be healthy and maintain their health status. We could also teach patients what to look for and when they need to see their doctor or get screened. This new model of health care also allows us to advocate for our patients because they may be able to completely prevent certain diseases or have less complications which would give our patients better outcomes.
Elizabeth
Thanks for posting this and for your dedication to bring awareness to this campaign Kathy! It is high time the public learns about the tremendous value nurses contribute towards the health and wellness of our nation, and unfortunately we are still cast is stereotypical roles, belittled and undervalued. While campaigns like those by Johnson & Johnson have taken on this challenge we can strengthen and galvanize current efforts to answer the call of establishing more nurse leaders and enhance health promotion and disease prevention through this Bill, HR1119. Having a prominent, visible nurse leader for public health will educate America on the vital care we provide, not only at the bedside, but out in our communities too. The National Nurse for Public Health would also serve as an inspiration to nurses everywhere to take up their rightful role as educators and become leaders in challenging the citizens of our country to take charge of their health!