Max Cleland: “I am very pleased to submit a resolution recognizing the value of nurses and the importance of the nursing profession to…”

“I am very pleased to submit a resolution recognizing the value of nurses and the importance of the nursing profession to the Nation's health care system. My legislation expresses the Sense of the Senate that a Nurses Care for America postage stamp should be issued in appreciation of nurses and everything that they do on behalf of their patients. Registered nurses, specifically, comprise the largest health care work force in the United States, numbering more than 2,700,000. These registered nurses provide direct patient care and manage teams of medical professionals in hospitals, clinics, community health centers, offices, nursing homes, and the homes of patients. Registered nurses did not hesitate to respond to the extraordinarily dangerous situations resulting from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, putting their own lives at risk and acting heroically to help save as many lives as possible in the impact zones. In all the years that we have acknowledged how much nurses mean to the delivery of health care and our quality of life, we have not done enough to ensure the viability of nursing as a profession.”