The work of America's 3.1 million registered nurses to save lives and to maintain the health of millions of individuals is the focus of this year's National Nurses Week, celebrated annually May 6-12 throughout the United States.

This year, the American Nurses Association (ANA) has selected "Nurses: Caring Today for a Healthier Tomorrow " as the theme for 2010.

The ANA supports and encourages National Nurses Week recognition programs through the state and district nurses associations, other specialty nursing organizations, educational facilities, and independent health care companies and institutions.

Annually, National Nurses Week begins on May 6, marked as RN Recognition Day, and ends on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, founder of nursing as a modern profession.

ANA, through its constituent member associations, advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting economic and general welfare, promoting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and lobbying Congress and the regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

Traditionally, according to nursingworld.org, National Nurses Week is devoted to highlighting the diverse ways in which registered nurses, the largest health care profession, are working to improve health care. From bedside nursing in hospitals and long-term care facilities to the halls of research institutions, state legislatures, and Congress, the depth and breadth of the nursing profession is meeting the expanding health care needs of American society.

Wallace Thomson Hospital employs 111 nurses with excellent training and credentials.

“At the skilled hands of our nursing staff, our patients receive the finest acute care in the nation,” said Union Hospital District CEO Bill Leonard. “With their excellent teamwork, we have achieved quality of care in the Top 10 percent of the nation. We truly appreciate all they do, everyday.”

Florence Nightingale Pledge:

This modified "Hippocratic Oath" was composed in 1893 by Mrs. Lystra E. Gretter and a committee for the Farrand Training School for Nurses in Detroit. It was called the “Florence Nightingale Pledge” as a token of esteem for the founder of modern nursing.

The Pledge:

“I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.”