Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Wilmington, N.C. - Nurses' Day Celebration, the annual event hosted by University of North Carolina Wilmington School of Nursing and North Carolina Nurses' Association, District 22, will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 11 in Wagoner Hall. Approximately sixty-seven registered nurses from Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties will be honored for their contributions in practice, education, research, and administration.

"Nurses: Strength, Commitment, Compassion" is this year's theme for National Nurses Week, celebrated May 6-12 annually. May 6 is National Nurses' Day. May 12 is the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

"This year's theme embodies what it means to be a registered nurse today," said American Nurses Association president Barbara Blakeney, MS, RN. "Today's nurses must have the strength to care for patients during times of disaster and crisis; they must have the commitment to remain involved in continuing education throughout their careers; and they must have the compassion it takes to provide hands-on patient care at the bedside - as they have done throughout the centuries," she added.

This year's co-chairs of UNCW's Nurses' Day Celebration are BJ Ellender, UNCW Associate Director of Health Promotion and Bettie J. Glenn, Associate Dean, UNCW School of Nursing.

Note: Members of the media are invited to attend the Nurses' Day Celebration. For more information, contact Caroline Cropp 910/962.7109.

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