National Nurses Week began on May 6 and concludes on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of modern nursing. This year’s theme is the Culture of Safety to highlight nursing’s central role in promoting all aspects of safety.

Nurses practice in a variety of settings, including hospitals, offices and clinics, rehabilitation and long-term care, home health and hospice, schools, correctional facilities and the military. We are clinicians, educators, researchers, consultants and leaders. We render and coordinate care, provide education and guidance, and attend to the psychosocial needs of patients and families.

Nurses comprise the largest segment of the health care workforce. The Maine State Board of Nursing lists approximately 23,000 licensed nurses, including just over 1,700 advanced practice nurses – nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, clinical specialists and nurse anesthetists. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates that the nursing job market will grow by 16 percent through 2024, more than twice the average rate, as there is greater emphasis on preventive care as baby boomers age and as access to care expands.

Nursing faculty members at Maine’s colleges and universities prepare graduates at the associate, baccalaureate and master’s levels. Last year, the University of Southern Maine awarded the first doctoral level nursing degrees in our state.

Our profession is remarkably satisfying and rewarding. In the most recent Gallup poll measuring the public’s perception of professional honesty and ethics, nurses once again topped the list with a 17 percentage point lead! It is a significant honor to retain the public trust. We practice both the art and science of nursing as we care for people across the age continuum in all states of health and wellness. We touch lives, and those lives touch us.

Please join me in recognizing National Nurses Week.

Patricia Boston, RN, Biddeford
President, American Nurses
Association – Maine