Angels, saviors, and friends are just a few of the adjectives patients often use to describe nurses. Nurses are the healthcare community's unsung heroes. Day in and day out they commit their time, expertise and compassion to ensure quality of life and provide hope not only to patients but also the family members whose loved one is under their care.

May 6-12 is the one week out of the year that our nation turns its undivided attention on its modern-age Florence Nightingales. Nurses Week originated as Nurses Day when President Ronald Regan signed a proclamation proclaiming "National Recognition Day for Nurses" to be May 6, 1982. The American Nurses Association then expanded on the day to include a week long celebration that would commence on May 12, Florence Nightingale's birthday.

The nursing workforce is made up of registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), certified nurses aids (CNAs) and advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs)-all providing direct front-line patient care. On a broad scale, nurses assess patient needs, develop patient care plans, administer medications and treatments and provide personal care. When you examine a nurse's responsibilities more closely you will see that these essential healthcare professionals carry out a minimum of 30 different nursing activities. Along with direct patient care, nurses compose critical documentation, educate patients and families on conditions and collaborate with other healthcare professionals on interdisciplinary teams.

Nurses are also a strategic component of our communities' economic make-up. According to the Florida Center for Nursing, Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties employee nearly 7,000 nurses. Nurses are not only found in traditional hospital and outpatient surgery settings, but they are also part of schools, long-term care facilities, as well as governmental facilities such as community health centers and jails.

Traditionally foreseen as a profession that is female dominated, nursing is a career being chosen by more men especially in Northwest Florida. Nationally, men make up about nine percent of the nursing workforce. At Baptist Hospital alone, men count for 19 percent of the nursing staff.

Projections from the Department of Labor Statistics show positions for registered nurses through 2010 will experience fifty percent faster growth than average employment growth for all other occupations. But the demand for nurses created by an aging U.S. population is outpacing the supply. By 2015 it is estimated that 114,000 RN positions will go unfilled throughout the country (1). The training of new nurses at our local educational institutions is vitally important for our region to continue to attract new nurses. Our area's teaching programs have teamed up with our local hospitals to provide clinical experiences that enable nursing students to receive excellent training at home. As a result many area graduates are opting to work locally.

When people are hospitalized, in a nursing home, having a baby or learning to manage a chronic condition in their own home, nurses are the health care providers people are most likely to encounter; spend the greatest amount of time with; and depend on for recovery.

Bottom-line: nurses are the backbone of healthcare.

(1)Lubin Vian H., Environmental Scan: The New Nursing Shortage. June 1999

Dr. David DiLoreto is Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Baptist Health Care. Diane Wilbanks, R.N., is Vice President of Patient Care Services, Baptist Hospital, Inc.