Bath VA to celebrate National Nurses Week, honor VA nurses

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the nation's largest single employer of nurses, joins the American Nurses Association in honoring America's nurses dedicated to saving lives and maintaining the health of millions of individuals during National Nurses Week, May 6-12.

This year's Nurses Week theme is "Nursing: A Profession and a Passion" and VA health care facilities throughout the country will pay tribute to their nurses who Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson describes "as the compassionate backbone of VA's worldclass

health care system."

Annually, National Nurses Week begins on May 6, marked as RN Recognition Day, and ends on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, founder of nursing as a modern profession. During this week, nurses at the Bath VA Medical Center will be honored with a reception and awards ceremony for the nursing staff and the VA Secretary's Award for Excellence in Nursing Nominees.

The Bath VA Nursing Nominees of the Year are:

Rose Hammond, RN, Ambulatory Care for RN-Staff Nurse Role

Sandra Dolan, RN GEC Care Manager for RN-Non Staff Nurse Role

Theresa Scholes, LPN 3B for LPN-Staff Nurse Role

Donald Bess, NA NHCU-2 for NA-Staff Nurse Role

National Nurses Week is devoted to highlighting the diverse ways in which all nurses, the largest health care profession, work to improve health care. From bedside nursing in hospitals, longterm care facilities, in home care, to the halls of research institutions, state legislatures, and Congress, the depth and breadth of the nursing profession is meeting the expanding health care needs of American society and its veterans.

For more about VA nurses, visit the Web at http://www.va.gov/nursing/ .