As we prepare to celebrate National Nurses Week (May 6 - 12), I took a moment to reflect on why I am so filled with pride and gratitude when I think of nursing in Duke University Health System [DUHS]. It didn’t take long to come up with the answer: Nursing at DUHS is incredible because of the diversity of our roles, the commitment of our nurses to always be learning and leading, and the willingness of our nurses to get involved in anything that can improve the care we provide to our patients.

A Lifelong Career
The diversity of nursing positions at DUHS is truly staggering. We have clinical nurses, nurse educators,nurse researchers, and advance practice nurses. Our nurses work in inpatient and outpatient settings, in hospice and home care, in the classroom and the community, in research labs and administration. We have student nurses, LPNs, RNs, nurses with master’s degrees, and nurses with PhDs. Our nurses care for the elderly and the newborn, the healthy and the sick. There are very few nursing opportunities that Duke doesn’t offer.

This diversity is a point in our favor when recruiting when there is a national shortage of nurses. At Duke, we can offer a lifelong career with ample opportunity for growth. And our nurses take those opportunities to grow.

Our clinical ladder programs at Duke University Hospital [DUH], Durham Regional Hospital [DRH] and the Private Diagnostic Clinic [PDC] continue to offer nurses the opportunity to expand their skills and responsibilitiesâ€"and their compensationâ€"in a structured, systematic way. Friends of Nursing (FON) has provided funding for many to present posters or papers at national conferences in the past year. And over 300 nurses have attended the Martha White Blalock Nurse Scholars conferences, which are hosted by FON, in the past 12 months.

One of the most exciting learning opportunities, from my perspective, is the continued involvement of DUHS nursing leadership in the Nursing Leadership Academy. Close to 100 of our nurse managers/directors have completed all the workshops offered thus far, helping them become much more effective leaders here at Duke and in the world of nursing beyond our organization.

I cannot speak of nursing and learning at Duke without a special word of thanks to the Friends of Nursing. This wonderful organization not only supports our nurses in furthering their learning and leadership activities, but also provides an important way to recognize individual nurses through the FON Awards given out each October. This year we are pleased to add two additional awards at DRH and Duke Health Raleigh Hospital [formerly Raleigh Community Hospital].

Nurse Involvement
I never cease to be amazed and thankful for the energy and enthusiasm that our nurses put into initiatives aimed at improving patient care. From painstakingly mapping out processes to assist in the implementation of computerized physician order entry (CPOE), Medication Administration Check (MAC), and other patient safety initiatives, to becoming black belts for the Six Sigma performance improvement program at DUH, participating in nursing leadership rounds at any of the hospitals, or serving formally on local, regional, and national nursing organizations, our nurses consistently step forward to ensure that the voice of nursing is heard. Our presence as part of the patient care teamâ€"at the bedside and behind the scenesâ€"is vital to the success of DUHS.

We have hundreds of individuals who deserve special recognition for their roles as mentors and preceptors. DUHS offers a host of programs that provide structured learning opportunities in bedside nursing for nursing students, new nurses, or nurses who wish to expand their horizons. These programs are an important part of the culture of nursing, but they could not exist without the dedication of those nurses who add in to their already busy lives the responsibility of nurturing another nurse.

Where are We Going?
Looking at the big pictureâ€"the picture that includes more than 3,500 nurses across the entire health system and Duke University Medical Centerâ€"I am excited by the growing recognition that the more we work together, the stronger we become. The bonds between the various entities are growing tighter and benefiting everyone. For example, 38 of the current class of 50 students enrolled in the School of Nursing’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program have already committed to work at DUHS hospitals when they graduate in December. A similarly high percentage of Watts School of Nursing graduates plan to stay in the health system.

The three hospitals are pooling resources to recruit nursesâ€"locally, regionally, and internationally. Over this past year, nurses throughout the health system participated in a survey to determine what might be most useful in increasing retention of nurses in this highly competitive market. More than 800 nurses responded to the survey, ranking their preference for ideas such as increased recognition for charge nurses and preceptors, tuition reimbursements, and varied schedules. The results of this survey and other topics will be discussed in June at a retreat during which the health system nursing leadership will create the first ever Strategic Plan for Nursing at DUHS.

It is our hope that this plan will help us build on our successes, and find ways to be even more effective in our mission of providing the very best nursing care, nursing research, and nursing education.