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How 5 Top Hospitals Are Observing Nurses Week

 |  By Alexandra Wilson Pecci  
   May 06, 2014

See how Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital and other top hospitals are recognizing nurses this week.

National Nurses Week (May 6-12) is upon us, and hospitals across the country are taking a few days to recognize their biggest—and arguably most important—team of caregivers. I reached out to some of the country's top academic and community hospitals to find out how they were celebrating and recognizing their nurses this week. Here's a look:

Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
Cleveland Clinic's Executive Chief Nursing Officer K. Kelly Hancock, MSN, RN, NE-BC, says via email, "We are proud to honor our 12,000 Cleveland Clinic nurses for making a difference in our patients' lives and helping us deliver on our mission of patients first."

Among the Cleveland Clinic's scheduled events:

  • Town Halls held throughout the enterprise by all CNOs, including Hancock at the main campus
  • Discounted tickets to the May 6 Cleveland Indians vs. Minnesota Twins game, with a Cleveland Clinic RN throwing out the first pitch
  • Awards ceremonies, including the announcement of the 2014 Nursing Excellence Award Winners
  • Blessing of the Hands throughout Cleveland Clinic hospitals
  • Appreciation breakfasts, luncheons, dinners, and desserts delivered to units on all shifts
  • $5 gift cards from Panera Bread to all Cleveland Clinic nurses
  • External and internal text-to-win campaigns. Participants can text "Nursesrock" to 28748 for a chance to win an iPad mini and automatically be opted in to receive regular text updates from Cleveland Clinic Nursing.
  • Reflexology, aromatherapy, and reiki sessions
  • A media campaign using digital billboards, advertorials, and radio commercials to thank nurses
  • An opportunity to thank nurses through a personalized e-card via the Cleveland Clinic Nursing Institute website.

The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD
"For Nurses Week, we are having fun at three different events," Karen Haller, PhD, RN, vice president for Nursing and Patient Care Services at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, says via email. Johns Hopkins Hospital will:

  • Provide tickets and bus transportation on May 7 and 8 for nurses to attend a film premiere of The American Nurse: Healing America, which features Naomi Cross, one of the hospital's own nurses
  • Host 1,500 for a bullpen party and ballgame at Orioles Park on Friday
  • Host the Tenth Annual Hopkins Nursing Charity Golf Outing at Hayfields Country Club on Monday, May 12

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
"Each year, Massachusetts General Hospital has a week-long program of offerings for our nurses and nursing students," according to MGH's special projects manager, Georgia W. Peirce.

This year, the events include research posters on display all week, a special interactive research poster session during Research Day, and the presentation of nursing research awards. There's also a series of lectures, a staff nurse breakfast, and a high tea.

MGH will also unveil a new portrait of Linda Richards, America's first trained nurse.

"She was the third superintendent of the Boston Training School at MGH, one of the first three nursing schools established in the US that followed the Nightingale system," Peirce says.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
"Each year, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centerrecognizes nursing excellence at the Samuel and May Rudin Awards ceremony held during National Nurses Week," media associate Andrea Baird, says via email. "The awards are sponsored by the Rudin Family Foundation and honor excellence in nursing practice, leadership, education, research and patient care." Other events include:

  • Celebratory breakfasts and lunches held throughout the week in all MSK locations throughout NYC and at our regional sites.
  • A guest speaker, Mark Lazenby, PhD, RN, AOCN of Yale University, will deliver a special presentation on spirituality in palliative and cancer nursing on May 9
  • A remembrance service paying tribute to MSK nurses past and present on May 6

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
"Mayo Clinic is celebrating nurses week is by giving all of our nurses a free copy of the new book "The Nurses of Mayo Clinic: Caring Healers" by Arlene Keeling, PhD, RN, FAAN," says spokesperson Alyson M. Gonzalez. "The book covers the past, present and future of nursing at Mayo Clinic…The author is also visiting our campus next week to give presentations to our nurses on the book and its contents."

Alexandra Wilson Pecci is an editor for HealthLeaders.

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