Celebrating National Nurses Week

Celebrating National Nurses Week

This week we take time to reflect on the profession of nursing and what our nurses mean to our national healthcare system and specifically to GBMC. Nursing requires selflessness and commitment. Nurses work long hours and their work is hard. Caring for patients with many needs requires physical and mental stamina. It is not a profession for people who have difficulty focusing on others. Commitment to helping others is a key trait that defines nursing.

But long ago nursing became a profession where commitment was not the only requirement. Now, nurses must put in many hours of preparation in the biological sciences to be able to do their work well with all of the complexities of medical care. Nursing is one of the few professions where both a strong scientific educational background is required along with the ability to do many consecutive hours of physically taxing work.

I often write in this blog of all of the things that we are working to fix in our national healthcare system but nursing is not one of them – the United States has the best prepared and hardest working nurses in the world. We in the GBMC HealthCare system are blessed to have phenomenal nurses in our inpatient units, in our operating suites, in our outpatient areas, our physician practices, and in our hospice. And we have outstanding nurse leaders. I am very proud of all of them and honored to call them my colleagues. 

But most of all, I am grateful for all that they do for our patients. Our nurses move us closer to our vision every day. Please especially take a moment to thank them this week as we recognize National Nurses Week, celebrated annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. 

Stacey Williams, RN, PEDS ED nurse, explains her Clinical

Ladder project at a Nurse's Week reception.

We are also celebrating National Hospital Week. Our system is so fortunate to have a great hospital. What makes our hospital great is not our beautiful campus, or our outstanding technology and clinical tools. What makes our medical center great is our people. Physicians, nurses, technicians, therapists, other clinicians, environmental services workers, administrators, transporters, food service workers, supply technicians, librarians, volunteers, groundskeepers, fundraisers, human resource experts, telephone operators, Information technologists, maintenance and facilities workers, and everyone else. When this big team works together….it is a thing of beauty….we call it GBMC…let’s celebrate it this week!

GBMC Activities

As part of national celebrations for Nurses Week & Hospital Week, GBMC will be holding several activities starting May 7th.  Many events will be taking place during this week, keep checking the InfoWeb for details. Below are just some of the events.

• GBMC Employee Healthy Recipe – all recipes should be submitted by Thursday, May 9, 2013.  All participants will be submitted in a drawing.  Please submit your recipe via email to HR Broadcast News.

• GBMC Bag giveaway – each employee will receive a GBMC totebag this week as a token of our appreciation.  Managers will receive an email with pickup locations so that they can pickup totebags for employees.

• Ice Cream Social Event for all GBMC staff and volunteers (Wednesday, May 8)
• 12 pm -2pm in ED Entrance and Civiletti Conference Center
• 6 pm - 7pm in ED Entrance Only
• 11 pm - 12am in ED Entrance Only

• Employee Health Fair (Thursday, May 9, 11 am – 3 pm in Civiletti Conference Center for all employees, volunteers and physicians 

Learn how you can be "Healthy.Wealthy.and Wise" by improving your health and by taking advantage of the resources that are available at GBMC!

Complimentary:  Massage therapy, glucose and cholesterol testing, blood pressure screening, BMI screening, hearing screening, vision screening, osteoporosis screening, Dermascan sun damage analysis…. and lots of free giveaways! 

A GBMC staff member receives a relaxing massage
at a prior  year's Employee Health Fair.

All attendees who fill out an evaluation form will be entered into a raffle for free prizes including gift cards, gym memberships, movie passes, and much, much more!

Two of Our Own are in Maryland’s Top 100 Women

On Monday night I put on my tux and went to the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall to celebrate the annual naming of Maryland’s Top 100 Women. The GBMC HealthCare System is the Circle of Excellence sponsor for the event, so after a video clip about our transformation into a true system of care was shown, I got to go up on the stage to salute the Circle of Excellence winners. 

This year’s event was special for us because Barbara Messing, the Administrative Director of the Milton J. Dance Center, and Bonnie Stein, the Chair of our GBMC HealthCare Board Quality Committee, were among the Top 100 honorees. 

Congratulations Barb and Bonnie, we are very proud of you!