The work of America's 2.9 million registered nurses in saving lives and maintaining the health of millions is the focus of the 2008 National Nurses Week celebration, May 6-12. The American Nurses Association has selected "Nurses: Making a Difference Every Day" as the theme this year. Annually, National Nurses Week begins May 6, marked as RN Recognition Day, and ends on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, founder of the nursing profession.
"The growing shortage of RNs poses a real threat of the nation's health care system," ANA President Rebecca M. Patton, MSN, RN, CNOR, said in a press release. "ANA is dedicated to fighting for a workplace environment that will encourage current nurses to continue in their careers, and inspire young men and women to consider nursing as a profession."
"There's definitely a shortage of nurses, which creates a heavy work load for all of us and directly affects patient care," Joann Field James, RN, Riverview Regional Medical Center in Carthage, said during an interview. Joann has been a RN for 34 years and has worked in nearly every facet of the profession ranging from pediatrics to surgery to home health to teaching nursing and more. "The shortages cause us to work 12 hour shifts and after eight hours of duty we're not at our best," Joann continued. "Also, when a nurse is out for a shift for whatever reason, another nurse may be pulled from her floor to fill the vacancy and work in an unfamiliar area. This has a direct bearing on patient care quality as well as employee morale. It's a balancing act that's hard to maintain."
A native of Ohio, Joann expressed deep satisfaction for having chosen the nursing profession as a career. "The rewards come in helping people with medical problems and improving their lives," Joann said proudly. "The job security is great because a trained nurse always will have a job." Joann is my step-daughter-in-law.
For vacation for the last three years, Joann has volunteered for a medical mission to Mexico. The trips were sponsored by the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, First United Methodist Church in Gallatin. The medical team was composed of a medical doctor, pediatrician, pharmacist, registered nurse, nurse practitioner, pharmacist assistant, interpreters, and volunteer retirees who distributed toys, soap and vitamins. Also, the mission had a construction crew to work on the churches.
"We traveled to Chalco, Mexico in 2004 and 2007 and to Tequisquiapan, Mexico in 2005. The towns were approximately one hour from the Mexico City airport. The people were very poor, but family oriented and faith centered," Joann said. "We established a free clinic in the church and worked eight or more hours daily for a week. We treated everyone that came to the clinic, which was over 1,000 patients weekly and one-year we had over 1,400.
"We treated more children than adults. The diagnoses for children mainly were respiratory infections, worms and stomach disorders. Each child received a month's supply of vitamins. We gave patients antibiotic, cough and cold medications," she explained. "I was the nurse for the pediatrician. I checked patient's vital signs, weight and height; and conducted pregnancy, urine, and blood sugar tests. We had enough supplies, but I wish we could have given them more than one month of medications. Pharmaceutical companies donated supplies and medications and our churches provided some. We gave the children a month's supply of vitamins, "Beanie Babies," and toys donated by the churches," Joann smiled.
"The people were in poor health because of their very hard work, poverty and lack of modern conveniences. They have undiagnosed diseases and complications from diseases because of the lack of medical care resulting from lack of access to doctors and insufficient money. They have feet problems caused by walking everywhere in inadequate shoes. By sharing our ability to help them we were very blessed and our spiritual poverty was renewed," Joann said.
The construction team worked on the church in Tequisquiapan and built an addition to the church in Chalco for the pastor's home and Sunday school classrooms, according to Joann. The mission volunteers for construction had varied backgrounds such as social workers, carpenters, students and others. The team worked the Mexican way in mixing cement by hand and hauling it in buckets to the second floor to lay bricks.
"We received a warm and loving welcome from the host Methodist church in Mexico including a Sunday worship service and dinner afterward. This was followed with music and traditional Mexican dancers who were young girls of the church in costume. Language was not a barrier because we were working together as God's people. The church service was in Spanish but the program was the same as in a Methodist Church at home.
"The mission team members love their annual trips to administer medically to the Mexican people. Some members have been going on the medical missions for 12 years. Although members contribute a week of their time and pay to do it, they say the satisfaction is overwhelming and they receive more than they give. I do, too. The people have little possessions but lots of love. They are very patient and wait in line a long time to see the doctors. They never complain. They willingly help us in any way they can with a smile. The church people prepared three meals a day for us. They have a lot of pride in meal preparation including substitution for special diets. The meals include a variety of foods especially fruits, tortillas, pancakes and yogurt. Juice made from mango, watermelon, cantaloupe, cactus and more were served every meal," Joanne said.
"Upon departure we were honored with a fiesta and a Mariachi band. The last day in Mexico was spent touring historic downtown Mexico City and numerous well-known sightseeing spots in the area," she added.
Certainly, in keeping with the 2008 nursing theme, Joann is making a difference in Mexico as well as Tennessee. Her daughter, Lisa, is a RN at Vanderbilt Medical Center and studying for a Master's in nursing at Vanderbilt University.
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Hayden Evans
W. Hayden Evans is a journalist, author and free-lance writer, a retired U.S. Army officer and a former banker who lives in Clinton. He currently serves as Director of Public Relations/Communications for Temp Systems, Inc. and TSI Industrial, Inc. In addition to his many other activities (such as Tennessee Mountain Writers - of which he is one of the founding members) Hayden has been an active supporter and member of the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce for decades - and also a member of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce. |
Hayden Evans
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