National Nurses Week 2019: 4 Million Reasons to Celebrate

There is no better time to celebrate the four million registered nurses in the U.S. than the week of Florence Nightingale’s birthday – the Mother of Modern Nursing. As we honor her work during the Crimean War, let us also reflect on her everlasting impact to bring about waves of change in health care systems and specifically professional nursing practice.

Out of the four million nurses in the states, 3,020 are right here in the heart of Kentucky at UK HealthCare – the #1 hospital in the Commonwealth. The College of Nursing has graduated over 7,000 nurse leaders and scientists. The academic-clinical partnership between UKHC and the College of Nursing has collectively planted a seed to grow and develop a strong nursing workforce to meet the high demands of emergent patient populations. Together, we stand strong today and every day to provide the best possible evidence-based care in the clinic, at the hospital, in the classrooms and community. 

While you embark on your nursing journey, remember Florence’s teachings and the resilient nurses who practice with you. We – as a profession – will leave a legacy behind as creators of knowledge, drivers of scholarly practice, and leaders and advocates for social justice and equitable health. Four million of us will pave the path forward for the nurses who come after us. Because your impact extends beyond each patient, your legacies will touch countless lives throughout your career – and for that, our future is BRIGHT.

We thank each of you for your enduring work to put your patients first! HAPPY Nurses Week!

Janie Heath, PhD, APRN-BC, FAAN, FNAP, FAANP Dean and Warwick Professor of Nursing

Gwen Moreland, DNP, RN, NE-BC Interim Chief Nurse Executive, UK HealthCare