By CARRIE WILLIAMS
BYU nursing majors and faculty members are celebrating National Nurses Week from May 6-12, showing they “have the courage to care.”
Since the early 1980s, when President Reagan declared the first week in May as National Nurses Week, nurses across the nation have been recognized for the contributions they make to society. The theme for this year is “Nurses Have the Courage to Care.”
Donna Fosbinder, a former nurse executive and current BYU faculty member, said nurses are beginning to show their courage by advocating for resources they need to better care for their patients.
“With the current turmoil in the health system, there has been a decrease in resources. Fifteen years ago if nurses needed extra staff they just called someone in to work. Now the extra resources aren’t there,” Fosbinder said.
Fosbinder said nurses have to stand up for their patient’s needs in boardrooms. They are now forced to prove their patient needs extra care by showing precise data and explaining specifically what the needs are, she said.
Rosanne Schwartz, chair of the nursing public relations committee said though nurses are highly trusted, the public does not always understand the impact they have on the health system. She said Nurses Week is a time for nurses and the public to celebrate the profession and recognize the service nurses provide.
“Nurses like to be known as health care providers who take time to know a person,” Schwartz said. It is in this manner they are demonstrating their courage to care, she said.
Patients often feel lost among all the doctors and technicians who are concerned for their physical needs and do not have time for the other aspects of the patient’s life, Schwartz said.
“It’s easy to forget the individuals. Illness affects every facet of their lives,” she said.
The nursing program at BYU encourages students to look at patients holistically by recognizing the concerns of their families and other facets of their personal lives, Schwartz said. Health promotion, disease prevention and general community health are also emphasized in classes, she said.
“Nurses Week is an effort to help nurses be recognized for the effective hard work they do,” said Peter Gourly, a senior nursing student from Laverne, Calif. “Many times patients are too sick to say thank you,” he said.
Gourly is an intern in the intensive care unit at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. “Helping severely ill people get better involves more than treating the body; family, marriages and emotional trials are also a concern nurses deal with,” Gourly said.
Kathy Wiker, an assistant nursing professor, said the capacity for a nurse to care is inborn.
Gourly said he is studying to work as a psychiatric nurse. Doing so, he said, takes a lot of patience and concern.
“Being a nurse exemplifies a Christ-like life because the profession focuses on healing others,” Gourly said.
