Congratulations to our May 2020 graduates! 
Your Gamecock Nursing Nation is especially proud of all of our graduates this week who are earning a BSN, MSN, or doctoral degree in nursing. We applaud your successes, your hard work and dedication, and your resilience, especially in this last semester during the COVID-19 outbreak. Whether you are a new nurse entering the profession, or an experienced nurse who has advanced your career options with a graduate degree, you make us all proud and we stand tall in your honor this week.  We look forward to a more formal celebration with you and your families in August!
 
Honoring Nurses
When the World Health Organization designated 2020 as the year of the nurse and midwife, we looked forward in anticipation of how we may increase the value and visibility of nursing.  Paradoxically, the coronavirus of 2020 has highlighted nursing’s contributions to patient care in unprecedented ways. This year has shaped not only how the public sees nursing but also shaped the experiences of nurses and nursing students.  Our resilience, compassion, public trust, advocacy, and expertise have been a shining light throughout this tragic pandemic.

As we enter Nurse's Week (May 6-May 12), our themes this year are COMPASSION, EXPERTISE, and TRUST.  How fitting for the time!  As we continue to weather this “COVID-19 battle", nurses will be viewed as the soldiers who stood on the front lines caring for individuals to improve conditions, providing expert and trustworthy compassionate care for individuals and families, and implementing safe and protective standards for the public and our workplaces. Does this sound familiar? Yes, Florence Nightingale, our founder of nursing, was instrumental in developing nursing standards of care and for changing the way nurses were perceived during the Crimean War.  She reformed  patient care standards and improved hygienic practices and sanitation which led the way for modern nursing that continues to expand in breadth and influence today.  Florence’s spirit will forever be embedded in all nurses as we continue to carry the torch in Florence’s honor, especially on her 200^th birthday May 12, 2020.

Take a moment to celebrate this special week, month, and year for your enormous achievements as individuals, and as a nursing profession. When you chose nursing at South Carolina, you joined a team of caring, devoted, and innovative professionals. When you chose nursing at South Carolina, you chose to be a leader and a role model for the profession!  You make us proud.

You are forever part of the Gamecock Nursing Nation. Happy Nurses Week to all.
 
Jeannette O. Andrews PhD, RN, FAAN
Dean & Helen Gurley Wolford Professor
j.andrews@sc.edu