Nurses are the heart of our health care

May 6-12 is Nurses Week in Nevada and throughout the country. The Nevada Nurses Association is gearing up to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of the over 14,000 registered nurses in our state.

The Nevada Nurses Association will join nurses across the state in highlighting the diverse ways in which registered nurses, the largest health care profession, are working to improve health care for all of us. Listed by Americans as the most honest profession in the recent Gallop1999 "Honesty and Ethics " poll, nursing continues to be a noble and admirable profession as well as an essential health service in our daily lives.

From bedside nursing in hospitals and nursing homes, to schools and home care, to the halls of research and academic institutions, state legislatures, and the Congress, the depth and breadth of the nursing profession is meeting the expanding health care needs of our citizens.

At the time that nurses are being acknowledged by the public and employers, nurses wish to thank the various publics we work with and serve. We appreciate your support and being there for us. Our pledge to you is that you can count on nurses being there for you and providing ethical, compassionate, and highly intelligent nursing care.

Nurses are the heart of health care . Necessary nursing care is as important to your health as necessary medical care. You can further be assured that the Nevada Nurses Association will continue to advance high standards of nursing practice, while promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses, advocating a positive and realistic view of nursing, and lobbying our state and federal legislators, as well as regulatory agencies on health care issues impacting the public so that good public policy is enacted.

DOROTHY E. RILEY, MSN, RN

President/Nevada Nurses Association