There is a lot of talk in health care organizations and the media these days about nurses who leave nursing. It makes for splashy headlines and, in some cases, fuels agendas that may or may not have nursing's best interest at heart. Unfortunately, much of the information is not based on fact.

The national nursing survey, sponsored by NURSEWEEK and the American Organization of Nurse Executives, as well as the National Sample Survey of 2000, both show that more than 81 percent of licensed RNs nationwide work as nurses. In the South Central region (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana), the number is even higher at 88 percent. This is one of the highest labor force participation rates of any profession. As for the 12 percent not working in nursing, a full one-third are retired. They have, as Florence Nightingale said, "done their duty."

The more precise statement is not that nurses are leaving nursing, but that they are choosing to work in places other than acute care or specialty hospitals. In the South Central region, 63 percent of our licensed RNs who are working as nurses work in hospitals. The other 37 percent have found greener pastures elsewhere. Is that a bad thing? Perhaps for hospitals, but not necessarily for the nursing profession as a whole.

Nursing has gone beyond being a "one-trick pony" with only one work setting option. Nursing knowledge, expertise and versatility now are valued in a wide variety of health care and business organizations. That value is evidenced by those organizations that offer nurses better work hours, higher pay, more autonomy, more recognition and respect for their knowledge and expertise, and an expectation that nurses should spend most of their work time using their nursing knowledge rather than carrying food trays or transporting patients around the building.

Do some hospitals get it right? You bet they do. But many do not. Otherwise, more nurses would work in hospitals because they are good places to work, not just because they are the only place that nurses who want to care for acute patients can do so.

Can hospitals get it right and, in doing so, attract and retain more nurses? Of course. One place to start that was evident in our survey is recognition. More than half of the respondents both nationally and in the South Central region said that "recognition of accomplishments and work well done" was only fair or poor.

Next week is National Nurses Week, a time when everyone gets on the bandwagon and recognizes nurses-sometimes for just being there. Hospitals and other organizations that truly value their nurses and want to keep them will loudly and publicly recognize the accomplishments and good work of their nurses not only next week but every week, by both word and deed.

National Nurses Week is also a great time for us to take time out to recognize each other. We-probably better than anyone else-know what we do and how well we do it. Here's a challenge: During National Nurses Week, let's start a cascade of nurses recognizing nurses. Tell three nurses you know how well they do their jobs and how much you value having them as colleagues. Ask each of them to tell three more nurses. By the end of the week, we will all be awash with pride and remember why we chose this profession and why we stay in it.

Discuss this and other topics with your colleagues at www.nurseweek.com/rnvillage