As the first College of Nursing established in Tennessee, the UTHSC College of Nursing is leading the way in recognizing the impact of the nursing profession in the Mid-South during 2020, which has been designated as the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife by the World Health Organization (WHO).
WHO estimates that the world will need an additional nine million nurses and midwives in just 10 years to meet sustainability goals on health and well-being. Globally, nurses and midwives account for nearly 50 percent of the health care workforce. There is a shortage of health care workers worldwide, and nurses and midwives are key to filling that gap. That is one reason that WHO declared 2020 the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife. The year also coincides with the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth.
Nurses have been responsible for significant improvements in the lives of patients and the overall community throughout the history of the profession. A nurse was responsible for developing the crash cart used in emergency situations worldwide. And self-taught nurse Clara Barton established the American Red Cross.
During this year, the UTHSC College of Nursing will highlight how nurses change lives through exceptional community service, leading research, innovative clinical care, and excellence in education. The college will share this message in a variety of ways, including a billboard and advertisements on public radio and in business publications, as well as nursing magazines and on social media. In addition, the college will incorporate the theme of the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife into its annual celebration of nursing, the NightinGala, which will be held May 9 at the Memphis Hilton. Registration for that event is open at www.uthsc.edu/nursing/nightingala.php.
The legacy of nursing leadership at UTHSC goes back to the college’s origins. Tennessee’s “Pioneer Nurse,” Lena Clark Angevine Warner, became the first superintendent of nurses at the nursing school that opened with the new city hospital in Memphis in 1898. That nursing school was the precursor of the UTHSC School of Nursing, which began operation in June 1927. Today, the UTHSC College of Nursing is the No. 1 NIH-funded College of Nursing in Tennessee and has a top 25 doctor of nursing practice (DNP) program.
UTHSC College of Nursing graduates lead nationally and locally. Ann K. Cashion, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the past scientific director of the National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health. She received her PhD at UTHSC and was on the nursing faculty for 13 years. Debbie Dawson Hatmaker, PhD, RN, the chief nursing officer of the American Nurses Association Enterprise, received her BSN at UTHSC College of Nursing. Alisa Haushalter, DNP, RN, who serves as director of the Shelby County Health Department, earned her DNP degree at the UTHSC College of Nursing and serves on the faculty. Many of the college’s graduates serve as deans of nursing schools at colleges across the country, as well as Chief Nursing Officers and many other significant leadership roles.
The nursing profession makes up the highest percentage of health care workers in the health care industry. But the American Nurses Association (ANA) predicts that there will be more registered nurse jobs available through 2022 than in any other profession in the U.S.
Follow the UTHSC College of Nursing campaign recognizing the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, using hashtags #YON2020 and #nurseschangelives.