Announcing Barrow Year of the Nurse
The World Health Organization has designated 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse” to celebrate the vital contributions nurses make to health care. At Barrow Neurological Institute, we have more certified neuroscience nurses than any other hospital in the country – a genuine point of pride for us. Our world-class nurses provide compassionate, specialized care that helps patients as they journey across their continuum of care – from diagnosis to treatment and recovery.
For me, there are moments of every day that are impacted by a nurse. When I am battling a difficult arteriovenous malformation or dissecting a fragile aneurysm, my OR nurses are beside me with the right instruments, intense concentration, and encouraging words. As those patients are recovering from their surgery, my intensive care unit nurses are monitoring vital signs, alleviating pain, and comforting families. While I am evaluating patients in my office, my clinical nurses are managing home needs, measuring outcomes, and arranging referrals and tests. My wife Suzanne began her career in nursing, and so even at home I experience the special empathy of a skilled nurse in my family life.
Our nurses exemplify the American Nurses Association’s Year of the Nurse tagline: Excel. Lead. Innovate.
Nurses have an extraordinary national and global impact, ranking as the most trusted profession in the country in Gallup Polls. Currently, there are over 2.8 million nurses in the United States, and these numbers are projected to grow to 3.4 million by 2026 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Nurses are the largest group of health care professionals in the U.S., with a projected need for an additional 203,700 new RNs each year through 2026 to fill newly created positions and replace retiring nurses. Nurses at Barrow are world-class because they provide exceptional care for neurological patients, they teach at conferences, they lead national and international organizations, and they host our most popular symposium at Barrow. Our nurses exemplify the American Nurses Association’s Year of the Nurse tagline: Excel. Lead. Innovate.
To support the WHO initiative, 2020 will also be the “Barrow Year of the Nurse.” Each month of the year, we will highlight a nurse or group of nurses on BarrowNeuro.org, on all @BarrowNeuro social media channels, and on TV monitors throughout the Barrow campus. Features will range from bedside nurses all the way to director-level leadership. We will begin this month with Tanya Osborne-McKenzie, our new senior director of neuroscience nursing. I hope you’ll join me in celebrating 2020 as the Year of the Nurse at Barrow Neurological Institute.
Best wishes as we focus on solving the unsolvable,