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Website spotlight: The campaign for a "National Nurse"

Nurse Leader Weekly, August 9, 2010

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A grassroots campaign is underway to create an Office of the National Nurse. The initiative calls for a national nursing leader, similar in stature to the U.S. Surgeon General, who will serve as a figurehead for nurses around the country, and spearhead health prevention efforts.

The movement has received much support, and there is legislation now in the U.S. House.

I wondered what a national nurse would do and why supporters felt there should be one, so I spoke with Teri Mills, author of the original New York Times op-ed that first suggested the idea back in 2005.

Turns out, America already sort of has a national nurse. There is a chief nurse officer at the U.S. Public Health Service, and Mills' proposal is to create an Office of the National Nurse and elevate this CNO to be officially known as "national nurse."

"So few people even know the chief nursing officer exists," says Mills. "Even members of Congress do not know this position exists. We would like Congress to have this position be known as the national nurse."

Editor's note: To read the rest of this free article, visit "The campaign for a National Nurse"  found in the Reading Room at www.StrategiesForNurseManagers.com.

Do you need continuing education (CE) credits? Check out this month's CE article about an organization being restraint free for five years or visit our archives and view a compilation of CE articles.

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