Stokowski’s Article in Medscape Nurses, “Will We Have a National Nurse?” Top Story in ANA Smart Brief in March!

Due to the large number of emails that the National Nursing Network Organization continues to receive related to a piece published in MedScape Nurses late March, we wanted to be sure those visiting this website also had a chance to read it. First and foremost, congratulations to writer Laura Stokowski MS, RN for writing a compelling article in MedScape Nurses for HR 4601, The National Nurse Act of 2010. This turned out to be the first article featured in the American Nurses Association's March 23, 2010 online SmartBrief. Thank you to the many nurses who wrote and continue to write to the NNNO Board after reading Stokowski's piece to request more information and ask how they can help support this important legislation to improve the public's health and increase the visibility of the nursing profession. Stokowski begins by writing, "On February 4, 2010, something happened that could change the future of healthcare and the nursing profession. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced into the US House of Representatives HR 4601, a bill to create an Office of the National Nurse. The United States has had a Surgeon General for 140 years. Many people feel that it's about time we had a nurse in such a noteworthy, visible position.The article also contains an informative interview by Alisa Schneider, the Vice-President of the National Nursing Network Organization. One question Schneider responded to is why do we need a National Nurse?Ms. Schneider: "We have a Surgeon General and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and from those offices and others we get a huge amount of health-related information -- really important information about health concerns in our country and what should be done about them. What we don't have, though, is a good mechanism to deliver those messages on a broader scale. Just as the nurse at the bedside delivers messages about health and illness prevention to individual patients, the Office of the National Nurse would deliver similar messages to the population as a whole.We see the Office of the National Nurse as providing that missing delivery mechanism. Nurses aren't just care providers; they are also health educators. The National Nurse would be a tangible, recognizable role model for what nurses do and do well -- which is educate people about their health."Stokowski's Article in Medscape Nurses, "Will We Have a National Nurse?" Top Story in ANA Smart Brief in March!

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