Mayor Proclaims Nurses Week

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Published on May 2 2016 2:42 pm
Last Updated on May 2 2016 2:42 pm
Written by Greg Sapp

(EFFINGHAM MAYOR JEFF BLOEMKER {center} SIGNED A PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING MAY 6-12 AS NURSES WEEK. JOINING THE MAYOR FOR THE SIGNING WERE ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF MEMBERS AND NURSING PROFESSIONALS FROM HSHS ST. ANTHONY'S MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. STANDING LEFT TO RIGHT: DR. RYAN JENNINGS, LAURA WILL, STACEY NIEBRUGGE, SUE SHANNON, DANA POE, JENNIFER WILSON, ANGELA KELLY, LORI WINTER, MAYOR BLOEMKER, LEAH FINLEY, AUTUMN McCORMICK, MICHELLE HOENE, TARA WRIGHT, ALICE BEARY, RITA HABING, JILL RUHOLL AND KELLY SAGER)

Effingham Mayor Jeff T. Bloemker recently signed a proclamation designating May 6-12, 2016 as Nurses Week.

The proclamation shares that the nearly 3.4 million nurses in the United States comprise our nation’s largest health care profession, and the depth and breadth of the nursing profession meets the different and emerging health care needs of the American population in a wide range of settings. The proclamation further states that a renewed emphasis on primary and preventive health care will require better utilization of all of our nation’s nursing resources, and professional nursing has been demonstrated to be an indispensable component in the safety and quality of care of hospitalized patients.

The demand for nursing services will be greater than ever because of the aging of the American population, the continuing expansion of life-sustaining technologies and the explosive growth of home health care service. Additionally, more qualified nursing professionals will be needed in the future to meet the increasingly complex needs of health care consumers in this community. The cost-effective, safe and quality health care services provided by nursing professionals will be an ever more important component of the U.S. health care delivery system in the future.

With the proclamation, the Mayor asks that all residents of the Effingham community join him in honoring the nurses who care for all of us, and celebrating nurses’ accomplishments and efforts to improve our health care system by showing appreciation for the nation’s nursing professionals not just during Nurses Week, but at every opportunity throughout the year.

Joining the Mayor as he signed the proclamation were Dr. Ryan Jennings, HSHS St. Anthony’s Chief Medical Officer; Kelly Sager, St. Anthony’s Chief Nursing Officer; and nursing professionals from various departments at HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital.

National Nurses Week is celebrated annually by the American Nurses Association, a voice for the registered nurses of this country, who is working to chart a new course for a healthy nation that relies on increasing delivery of primary and preventive health care.  The American Nurses Association National Nurses Week 2016 theme is “Culture of Safety—It Starts with You”, in celebration of the ways in which nursing professionals strive to provide safe and high quality patient care and map out the way to improve our health care system.

For more information about HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital, visit stanthonyshospital.org. HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital is part of the Southern Illinois Division of Hospital Sisters Health System, which also includes HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Belleville, HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Breese, and HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Highland.