WHEREAS, Nurses, as the largest group of health care providers in the nation, are the primary providers of service within health care agencies. It is the nurse that patients first see upon entering a health care agency, and it is the nurse that they see most frequently. Nurses are responsible for providing care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year; and
WHEREAS, Nursing is a specialized, exciting and vital career. The increase in the technology and the increase in acuity levels require that nursing be a sophisticated and advanced profession. Nurses draw upon their skill, specialized education, and ability to work with ever changing technology as they respond to the patient's varied needs in a work environment which is continually changing and evolving; and
WHEREAS, Nurses are aware of the total condition of the patient at all times. Their practice involves assessing the patient's response to the medical and nursing plan of care and simultaneously meeting the physical and psycho-social needs specific to each individual. This is a physically, mentally and emotionally demanding task, and we owe nurses our unqualified thanks and respect for their thorough professionalism in fulfilling their myriad responsibilities; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby honors the nursing profession and extends its thanks to the following nursing organizations that so well represent Rhode Island's nurses:
the American Association of Critical Care Nurses;
the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants/Greater Providence, RI Chapter;
the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses;
the American Nephrology Nurses Association;
the Association of Operating Room Nurses of Rhode Island;
Eldercare Services Newport Hospital;
HARI-Association of Nurse Executives Committee;
the Massachusetts/Rhode Island League for Nursing;
the Ocean State Chapter/American Association of Critical-Care Nurses;
the RI Chapter of the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses;
the RI Association of Certified Nurse Anesthetists, Inc.;
the RI Association of Occupational Health Nurses;
the RI Association of Post Anesthesia Nurses;
the RI Certified School Nurse-Teachers, Inc.;
the RI Conference on Nursing Diagnosis;
the RI Emergency Room Nurses Association;
the RI & SE MA Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society;
the RI Staff Development Conference;
the RI State Nurses Association - the Government Affairs Committee, the Council of Nurse Practitioners and, the Council on Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing;
Sigma Theta Tau - Delta Upsilon at Large; and
the Society of Vascular Nursing, and we proudly proclaim the week of May 4th-10th, 1997 to be National Nurses' Week in Rhode Island; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Rhode Island State Nurses Association.
