Celebrate our indispensable contributions.
Through patient care, in the halls of legislatures, as managers and executives, and in communities across the country, nurses make the difference. As the largest group of providers, we’re there in critical care units, community health centers, elementary schools, think tanks, and myriad other places. Our work, which integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on protecting, promoting, and optimizing health and human functioning, serves as the connective tissue of healthcare—binding together and supporting the proper functioning of a highly complex and nuanced system.
RNs make the difference by listening intently and bringing our unmatched knowledge and perspective to honest conversations with our patients about their care and treatment goals, fears, concerns, and questions.
Making a difference in a multitude of ways
Nurses Month: You make a difference
Let’s really celebrate nursing by making a difference together
Our advocacy also matters greatly—for individual patients and on behalf of all patients.
Grateful patients and families share in-the-moment heartfelt thanks for our expert care and compassionate presence. Nurses Week, May 6-12, formally recognizes all the fabulous contributions RNs make. This year, the American Nurses Association (ANA) has embarked on a campaign to engage the public in honoring and celebrating nurses (nursingworld.org/nurses-week). For #NursesLightUpTheSky, landmark buildings will be illuminated—Wrigley Building in Chicago, Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Capella Tower in Minneapolis (May 6), and Houston City Hall (May 7).
The public has recognized nurses as the nation’s most trusted professionals for 22 consecutive years. This unbroken record speaks to the bond we have with American society. During Nurses Week and throughout May, ANA will build on that goodwill by encouraging individuals and organizations to donate to the American Nurses Foundation’s Thank A Nurse campaign, advancing its instrumental work in supporting nurses.
On May 7, ANA is hosting the second presentation of the Mary Eliza Mahoney Lecture Series: “Activism and advocacy: Building on the legacy of Mary Eliza Mahoney” on Mahoney’s birthday anniversary. This free virtual event will feature insights from a distinguished panel of nurse leaders as they discuss the crucial role of advocacy in tackling health inequities (nw.ana.org/2024mahoney_lecture).
Launched in 2023, this lecture series honors America’s first professionally licensed Black nurse who made a difference in her time and continues to influence ours as an impactful leader, innovator, and visionary for both nursing practice and civil rights. My distinguished colleague, Sheldon Fields, PhD, RN, CRNP, FNP-BC, AACRN, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN, president of the National Black Nurses Association and co-lead of the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing, will moderate this session.
On May 12, ANA will join the International Council of Nurses, representing 130 national nursing associations and more than 28 million nurses worldwide, in celebrating International Nurses Day. This year’s theme, “Our Nurses. Our Future. The economic power of care,” aims to reshape perceptions and demonstrate how strategic investment in nursing can bring considerable economic and societal benefits.
Globally, nurses make the difference with the excellent value we bring. In identifying and solving problems, advocating for our patients and ourselves, seeing and responding to system and whole patient needs, we prove repeatedly how indispensable we are.
Thank you, America’s more than 5 million RNs, for your commitment to excellence, insights, breakthroughs, and determined, competent leadership. You make the difference.
Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN,
President, American Nurses Association
American Nurse Journal. 2024; 19(5). Doi: 10.51256/ANJ052413
