Nursing – It’s A Calling

At Ascension Michigan hospitals, our nurses exceptionally practice the art and science of nursing. For example, the science behind the evidence-based practices of bedside shift report and purposeful hourly rounding assure that as nurses, we are driving a culture of safety and security for our patients. While these practices drive safe patient care, they also assure a positive experience that includes the voice of the patients we serve.
For a 52-year-old man who suffered a stroke while getting ready for work one morning, he and his wife would experience the tremendous care of an entire healthcare team from the Emergency room to the inpatient units at Ascension Macomb Oakland---in particular, an assistant nurse manager named Rebecca, who not only provided care, but also coordinated and assured that this patient, his wife and their children had the support they needed to get through a very scary experience. Rebecca’s expertise in both the art and science of nursing were evident in his care.
These are just two of many stories of nurses going above and beyond for their patients. May 6 – 12 is National Nurses Week, and while we always do our best to honor, support and celebrate our nurses, this week offers us the opportunity to do so on an even larger scale, as a community. According to the Michigan Public Health Institute, in 2017, there were over 173,000 nurses calling our state home. Across Ascension Michigan, which includes our 15 inpatient hospitals and hundreds of related healthcare facilities, we employ over 8,000 nurses.
Health systems and the nursing leaders supporting them must be committed to enabling our nurses to succeed and equipping them to lead at the bedside. In Michigan, we have nursing residency programs which foster growth, leadership and sharing of best practices among our caregivers. We are also creating statewide on-boarding centers to more effectively hire, train and retain nurses. In addition, we continue to develop shared governance and decision-making structures, so nurses can even more effectively help shape the environment in which they’re working.
We are working together to elevate the role of nursing, demonstrate the economic value that nurses and to ensure that everyone in our community knows how blessed we are to have such phenomenal caregivers across our state.
Nurses in our community continue to demonstrate, day in and day out, that it’s more than a career – it’s a calling. To all nurses in our community, thank you so much for what you do in service to others.