THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505110005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A20 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
This is National Nurses Week. The roles nurses play in health-care delivery have undergone dramatic change in the past 100 years. Best known for their nursing skills at the bedside with the ill patient, nurses have expanded their roles in the changing health-care environment and are involved in health-care delivery in many capacities. Today, nurses play indispensable roles in the delivery of health care and its management at all levels and in all settings.
Nurses are best known for the roles they play in the hospital in caring for the comprehensive needs of patients. Care that nurses provide within the hospital setting has expanded into all areas of the hospital from the patient's bedside to the intensive-care unit, the emergency room and the operating room. Nurses have risen to new challenges to provide care in the home where more care is delivered as an alternative to hospital stays. In addition, nurses are agents of change in their responsibilities as managers of teams, hospitals and health-care systems.
Nurses deserve our respect for their healing powers, past accomplishments and for the changes that they are making to prepare for the future.
J. SUMNER BELL III, M.D., president
Medical staff
Sentara Hospitals-Norfolk
Norfolk, May 9, 1995 by CNB