Among other events, NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi honored their nurses with a large breakfast on May 7. Chief nursing officer, Suzanne Pennacchio, addressed her colleagues with a heartfelt message of gratitude thanking them and saying they went above and beyond to accommodate patients during the pandemic.

 

NYC Health + Hospitals is still accepting donations to help support their health care heroes and patients. Anyone wishing to donate to the campaign can do so here.

 

According to the report, the latest figures added to the widespread celebration of Nurses Month which takes place throughout May. Sponsored by the American Nurses Association (ANA), Nurses Month is also an annual event “recognizing nurses for their tremendous effort and compassion, as they work collectively to improve the health of individuals, families, and communities nationwide.”

It's the last day of #NursesWeek! Your generosity helps support our health system's nurses as they care for ALL New Yorkers, especially during the #COVID19 crisis. Donate now and thank you: https://t.co/hHZVKgZlcD pic.twitter.com/zu6DtCQjkt

— NYC Health + Hospitals (@NYCHealthSystem) May 12, 2021

 

Carson-Newman reported that nurses at all levels and in all health care settings continue to play a critical role in the nation’s continued fight against COVID-19. Their report found that with nearly 4 million nurses working in the field nationwide, the nursing profession continues to flourish.

 

The university summarized the latest nursing statistics in the report as follows, along with the relevant sources:

• The average age of surveyed registered nurses is 51 years (NCSBN).
• 9% of nurses are male, versus 2% in 1970 (NCSBN).
• Nurses from minority backgrounds are growing in number (HRSA):
  • 10.2% are Hispanic or Latino
  • 7.8% are Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
  • 5.2% are Asian
  • 1.7% of nurses who identify as two or more races
  • 0.6% are Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
  • 0.3% are American Indian or Alaskan Native
• Registered nurse jobs are growing faster than average at 7% by 2029 (BLS).
• Nurse practitioner jobs are growing faster than average at 45% by 2029 (BLS).
• The nursing field can anticipate more than 221,000 potential new job openings in the future (BLS).
• RNs showed an increase in median annual income between 2017 and 2019 from $63,000 to $75,330 (NCSBN & BLS).
• The median salary of nurse practitioners is over $117,000 per year (BLS).
• 85% of nurses are satisfied with their current jobs (ANT).

 

Meanwhile, back in The Bronx, a combination of paid workers and volunteers with the nonprofit, Art Science Research Laboratory, handed out free PPE to long lines of healthcare workers outside Montefiore Medical Center on Wednesday, May 6, during a special giveaway to mark Nurses Week. The event was part of the ongoing “Cut Red Tape 4 Heroes” campaign, which was launched by Art Science Research Laboratory in March 2020 in response to the pandemic.

 

Rhonda Roland Shearer is the founder and director of the nonprofit. “We’ve been doing this since the beginning of the pandemic,” Shearer told the Norwood News on the day of the event. “We’ve given out more than four million pieces of PPE to approximately 300,000 medical workers, non-medical workers and people in need.” She said the organization’s work has taken them all across New York City and that she and her colleagues have held about a dozen events in The Bronx since the pandemic first hit the city, at different hospitals, food giveaway sites and clinics.

Shearer continued, “Our whole concept is – PPE is expensive, and people that work here [at hospitals] that are invisible, that aren’t thanked every day by the public, spend their own money. It comes out of their own pocket, and we want to give them a month’s worth of PPE to give them a break, and it’s a way that we say, ‘thank you’.”

 

She said her experience throughout the pandemic taught her how to find quality PPE at a fair price. “In the beginning, I didn’t get donations. People didn’t know what I was doing,” she said, explaining that the group set up a Go Fund Me account and website called cutredtape4heroes.org.

Shearer said donations are still needed and gratefully accepted. “Any amount of money donated is appreciated,” she said, adding that the group also accepts donations of PPE. “We get the PPE out to the community. We’re at housing projects. We work with the police department when they do activities or food insecurity events – we’re there. So, if you need PPE, call us. Write to us.”

 

Each PPE package handed out at the Montefiore event contained a cloth face mask, hand sanitizers, a KN95 face mask and a face shield. Shearer said the group is always seeking information so that they can be there for people who need PPE. “We don’t want people making the choice, ‘Oh should I buy food or should I buy PPE to be safe?'” she said. “This is not fair. So, what we do is try and come up with a solution, and that’s giving it away free, and what we do is give it directly to people. We don’t give it to institutions where we hand out boxes, unless it’s really small and we know where it’s going.”

She explained that the work is, in fact, a continuation of the work she first started after 9/11. “My daughter and I started a mask, respirator and technical quality supplies [campaign] for first responders at Ground Zero, and we were there the whole time,” Shearer said. “So, when the pandemic started, I thought, Oh my God! Here we go again! The need was great and I had the contacts and the knowhow of how to get PPE.”

 

At the Montefiore event, she said the organization gave out about a half a million dollars worth of PPE (retail value) to approximately 5,000 workers. She also commended Moishe’s Moving, a moving company based in New Jersey, which she said offered her organization free storage space, adding that the group wouldn’t have been able to do what they did without the use of the company’s warehouse.

“The enthusiasm here for National Nurses Week has been fantastic,” Shearer continued. “The nurses are appreciative. They get to come outside in the beautiful sunlight and we’re able to say ‘thank you,’ and not only say it, but show them our thanks and appreciation.”

 

She said each box of supplies was worth about $100, per person. “The fact that we’re here and Montefiore helped to host us, we were able to distribute part of the one million donation from ‘Well Before,’ a vendor of PPE supplies from Texas,” Shearer said. “It’s unbelievable. They gave us one million surgical masks, face shields, children’s masks, and children’s face shields.”

Meanwhile, there was more good news for Montefiore Medical Center’s clinical faculty / nurse educators who were winners of the 2021 ANA All-Pro Nursing Team Contest.

 

“Our incredible nurses bravely and smartly pioneered new ways to safely and rapidly educate over 800 acute patient care nurses to meet surge capacity on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic,” a social media post from Montefiore Health System read.

For #NationalNursesWeek #CutRedTape4Heroes handed out PPE so #MontefioreEinstein nurses have extra protection outside of work. We're so thankful to our brave nurses who keep us safe every day! Watch via @CBSNews: https://t.co/1FGHzNRYTb #Nurses #Nurse #MontefioreProud pic.twitter.com/oHy8G3QkrT

— Montefiore Health System (@MontefioreNYC) May 10, 2021

 

According to a report by myamericannurse.com, the Montefiore team put their already strong communication skills, professionalism, and responsiveness to work when the pandemic began in March 2020. “The Bronx was particularly hard hit by the virus (the hospital had two patients with COVID-19 on March 11, 2020, and 2,000 one month later), so in addition to their usual nursing education duties (which they quickly adapted to meet social distancing requirements) this team of educators was tasked with developing a safe, rapid training plan to meet surge capacity,” the report read.

 

The report went on to explain that the educators created mandatory redeployment training days that involved up-skilling over 600 nurses in one month. In addition to essential skills, the training included education specific to COVID-19 – respiratory and cardiac care, strict infection control practices, and proning.

Thank you to all our nurses for the difference you make through your heroism, resilience & compassionate care. Through the courage of nurses, we triumph. #MontefioreEinstein collaborated w/ artist @kobrastreetart to create this tribute in your honor. #Nurse #NursesWeek #NurseLife pic.twitter.com/6qyrfeaVAO

— Montefiore Health System (@MontefioreNYC) May 6, 2021

 

Proning is the process of turning a patient with precise, safe motions from their back onto their abdomen (stomach) so the individual is lying face down, which is especially beneficial in comprised COVID-19 patients with or without ventilator needs, as it allows for the expansion of the lungs.

 

The winning team were quoted as saying, “We all agree that this has been the hardest months of any of our professional lives. To the outside world, all clinicians seem to display a brave face…but the truth is we faced the same fears as everyone else. To reduce the emotional toll, we invested time in each other, each day, simply by asking ‘How are you today?’ The daily communication provided us with mental health stability, which can never be overestimated. Oddly enough, despite its challenges, this pandemic brought a renewed sense of solidarity and continues to be an enriching personal and professional experience.”

Congratulations to our Clinical Faculty/Nurse Educators, winners of the 2021 ANA All-Pro Nursing Team Contest!

Learn more: https://t.co/sPYUFHq9mb #Montefiore #Nurses #HealthcareHeroes #AllProNursingTeamAwards pic.twitter.com/ZVW7HiH5ZX

— Montefiore Health System (@MontefioreNYC) May 11, 2021

 

The team went on to say that as a clinical faculty, they were not direct patient care providers, at least not by job description. However, when not teaching, they were on the hospital units assisting their nursing colleagues on the frontlines…bringing them food and providing encouragement.

 

“We may have been the extra hands needed to position and turn a patient or assist them with an unfamiliar skill,” they said. “We had many roles during the pandemic, but as nurses, undertaking many roles is who we are, and what we do best.”

Through the courage of nurses, we triumph. In honor of the heroism, resilience, and compassionate care of all our nurses, #MontefioreEinstein collaborated with artist @kobrastreetart to create this tribute. We thank you. #Nurse #NursesWeek #NurseLife #EduardoKobra pic.twitter.com/HKPuHFEMnk

— Montefiore Health System (@MontefioreNYC) May 7, 2021

 

The team said that the education they provided was evidenced by the excellent care their nursing colleagues provided to patients. “Thousands of patients were admitted to the Montefiore Health System over a 3-month period. There is much to be thankful for and much more gratitude on the horizon,” they said.

 

“Once the vaccine has conquered the coronavirus and terms such as ‘quarantine’ and ‘resurge’ fade from our daily vocabulary, we’ll take a few deep breaths and reflect on what this past year has taught us. We’ll continue to take pride in knowing we did our best and hope that some good has come out of all of this. 2020, without doubt, was the year of the nurse!”

 

Nurses Week ended on Wednesday, May 12, which is both International Nurses Day and Florence Nightingale’s birthday. According to history.com, Nightingale (1820-1910), known as “The Lady With the Lamp,” was a British nurse, social reformer and statistician best known as the founder of modern nursing.

 

Her experiences as a nurse during the Crimean War were foundational in her views about sanitation. She established St. Thomas’ Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses in 1860. Her efforts to reform healthcare greatly influenced the quality of care in the 19th and 20th centuries.