Photo By Jason Bortz | Lt. Gabrielle Crane, clinical nurse specialist and department head, Medical-Surgery...... read more read more
PENSACOLA, Fl. - On May 13, 1908, the Navy Nurse Corps was officially established by Congress to help meet the health care needs of the Navy. Today, 106 years later, the Nurse Corps has grown from 20 women to over 4,000 active duty and reserve nurses of both genders.
Preceding the birthday of the Nurse Corps is the nationally celebrated Nurses Week, May 6 – 12, which celebrates all nurses and their roles in society. Nurses Week is one of the most celebrated weeks of the year at NHP. This year, the hospital will celebrate Nurses Week with meals prepared by the Nurse Corps, a physical training session led by NHP nurses and an evening at a local minor league baseball game where a Navy nurse will throw out the first pitch.
The pride of not just being a nurse, but being part of the Nurse Corps, is very strong amongst Navy nurses and reflects in their delivery of care.
“Being a nurse means being a health care ambassador in the service of mankind,” said Lt. Clement Francis, a registered nurse and division officer for Naval Hospital Pensacola’s Family Medicine Clinic. “Nurses get to make a positive difference daily by serving those committed to our care, whether it’s patients, co-workers or our community.”
Being a nurse in the Navy wasn’t always such a celebrated or respected position. Prior to the creation of the Nurse Corps, the duties of Navy nurses were filled by junior enlisted men and later a modest number of female contract nurses in hospitals ashore. After the establishment of the Nurse Corps, 20 women, known as “the Sacred Twenty,” were selected to be the first Navy nurses. They were assigned to the Naval Medical School Hospital in Washington, D.C., but the Navy did not provide them with room or board. Refusing to fail, the “Sacred Twenty” rented their own house and provided their own meals and thus paved the way for future generations of Navy nurses.
Today, Navy nurses are highly qualified, trained medical professionals who are caring and compassionate healthcare ambassadors. They are a vital part of the Navy Medicine team that is responsible for providing quality health care services to Sailors, Marines, their families and all others entrusted to their care.
“Working with patients, [nurses] are often subjected to difficult situations in which patients, and their families, are at their most vulnerable state,” said Lt. Gabrielle Crane, clinical nurse specialist and department head, Medical-Surgery Ward, NHP. “I truly enjoy helping families and patients through these difficult times and making situations that may seem hopeless a little more bearable.”
| Date Taken: | 05.02.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 05.02.2014 11:16 |
| Story ID: | 128526 |
| Location: | PENSACOLA, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 547 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, From Sacred Twenty to 4,000 strong: Happy Birthday Navy Nurse Corps, by Jason Bortz, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
