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Anne McNamara, RN, PhD, faculty chair of Rio Salado College in Tempe, Ariz., and advisory board member for NurseWeek’s Mountain West region, with keynote speaker JoEllen Koerner, RN, PhD, FAAN, recipient of the 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Organization of Nurse Executives Institute for Patient Care Research

“Nurses are people at our side during the first moments of life, during the dark moments of suffering, and at life’s final end.”

Lin Sue Cooney,
KPNX TV-12 News, Master of Ceremonies

On April 29, Arizona nurses were honored as part of the third annual Promise of Nursing for Arizona. The event was sponsored by the Arizona Nurses Foundation, the Arizona Nurses Association, and Johnson & Johnson. Nursing Spectrum, a national sponsor for the J&J galas, hosted a table at the event with invited guests from local hospitals and businesses. The luncheon took place at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix, where more than 600 nurses were on hand to salute the accomplishments of the state’s nearly 47,000 nurses.

Each nurse sported a yellow or pink orchid, compliments of the Arizona Nursing Association, as they celebrated and reflected upon the contributions of their peers.

Harpist Adrienne Bridgewater, of Hospice of the Valley Harp Consortium, played “Canon in D” by Pachelbel while nurses sipped lemonade and networked on the patio. In the reception hall, the attendees lined up to view a unique history of nursing advances presented by the American Museum of Nursing.

JoEllen Koerner, RN, PhD, FAAN, delivered the keynote speech at the event. She drew a collage of word pictures derived by statements and observations by colleagues in the nursing profession. Koerner recites a favorite poem, “I like talking about patients as if they aren’t real, calling them the ‘fracture’ or the ‘hysterectomy.’ I like saying you shouldn’t do this, you must have this test. And I like the way patients don’t always do what I say. I like the way we stop the blood, pump the lines, turn hearts on and off with electricity. I don’t like when it’s over and I realize that I know nothing.” The poetry touched our hearts and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Andrea Higham, director of Johnson and Johnson’s Campaign for Nursing’s Future, unveiled a video featuring “real” patients and “real” nurses talking about their experiences with each other. The audience blotted their eyes with Kleenex, laughed, and cried as they listened to families giving heartfelt thanks to nurses.

Campaign for Caring for Arizona’s Kids Grant, a program to increase diversity, unveiled its first “Nurse Storytelling” session. Jackie Toliver, RN, played the part of Mary Eliza Mahoney, the first African American to become a nurse. Toliver, dressed in period clothing, told the story of Mahoney’s life: how she received her diploma in l879 from the nursing school of the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston, Mass., and how she was one of only four to graduate from the l8-month program. Beginning in the fall, Toliver will present Mahoney’s story to grades kindergarten through third.

This year’s Promise of Nursing for Arizona raised over $75,000 for the Arizona Nursing Foundation. The proceeds from the luncheon celebration will benefit the Arizona Nursing Foundation’s scholarship program that assists students interested in entering the nursing profession or nurses seeking to advance their careers.

Kristin Green, a recipient of the Arizona Nurses Foundation Scholarship and emergency department nurse at Banner Good Samaritan, spoke about her experience as a nurse. “It’s what I like to call a Florence Nightingale moment, really helping somebody, not just getting an IV in on a first stick or convincing a doctor to see the patient without an eight-hour wait, but teaching a patient about their illness so that they are comfortable managing it, or suggesting something to the doctor that changes the course of therapy,” says Green. “That’s the reason I love nursing.” Green graduates from Arizona State University with her Masters in Nursing in June.

Terry Ratner, RN, BS, MFA, is the Bookcase re­viewer for NurseWeek.

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