RN Magazine endorses establishing an Office of the National Nurse

There has been a great deal of activity to report on since writing to you a couple of weeks ago. Several nurses have written with their input and also to request information about the National Nurse proposal. We have heard from supporters in Colorado, Utah, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and California just to name a few. We have made an effort to post some of their emails (after obtaining permission) with our response at www.nationalnurse.org The website is a great way to begin a dialogue among all of us. Please feel welcome to post your own comments.

We want you to know that we have several documents available including a poster that you can print copies of to show your support and educate others about the National Nurse. Please contact teri@nationalnurse.info if you are interested in receiving these.

RN Magazine came out with a strong endorsement for establishing an Office of the National Nurse in its January 2006 edition. Marya Ostrowski, editor of RN, states, “The nursing community needs a single, highly visible spokesperson who can focus on providing Americans with preventive healthcare resources. Sure, the profession has plenty of nursing leaders. But by having a National Nurse, there would be one nurse with the added cachet of a government affiliation.” Ms. Ostrowski concludes by saying, “This is one of those rare proposals that I believe all nurses-regardless of specialty or practice setting—can stand behind.”

We extend our gratitude to RN Magazine and their board for this ringing editorial.

Publications about the National Nurse are expected to come out in the Nevada and Vermont state nursing association newsletters as well as the mid-western edition of ADVANCE. Special thanks to Lillian Gonzalez, RN (NV) and Annie Nowlin, RN (IL) for their effort in making this happen.

Many state organizations are requesting news articles about the National Nurse, and if you are interested in helping to write these, please contact Teri or Alisa at alisa.schneider@pcc.edu.

The deans of the community colleges in Massachusetts have invited Teri and Alisa to keynote a nursing conference on March 31st, 2005. This will be an opportunity to educate nurses, health care workers, and elected government officials about the National Nurse proposal.

Alisa and Teri will also be presenting a shorter version of the above to The Portland Community College chapter of the American Association of Women in Community Colleges (AAWCC) on February 1st.

We have submitted several proposals to other state and national meetings and conventions and are delighted to come to speak to your group too.

Many more individuals have signed up to receive our newsletters through our website www.nationalnurse.org but we still need to keep adding names to this list. Also, there is new merchandise, including buttons and bumper stickers, available at www.cafepress.com/nationalnurse.

Thanks for your good thoughts and kind words,

Teri Mills, RN, MS, ANP
Terri Polick, RN
Alisa Schneider, RN, MSN, CNE
National Nurse Campaign Coordinators