Michael Burgess: “it is May 12, and May 12 is a special day because that is the day that the lady with the lamp, Florence Nightingale, was…”

“it is May 12, and May 12 is a special day because that is the day that the lady with the lamp, Florence Nightingale, was born in 1820. Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, the woman who found that cleanliness and hygiene had an effect on wound healing, actually helped wound healing and transformed military medicine back in the 1800s. This day is also the last day of National Nurses Week, and nursing tells us over and over again what we all in this Congress need to know: it is time to value health. We cannot afford to simply pay for disease any longer. The American Nurses Association is working to chart a new course for a healthy Nation that relies on the increasing delivery of primary and preventive health care and a renewed emphasis on primary and preventive health care that will require better utilization of our Nation's resources. Professional nursing has been demonstrated to be an indispensable component for the safety and quality of care of hospitalized patients. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I recognize the Nation's 2.7 million registered nurses. ____________________”