The following is an email from our Chief Nursing Officer, Bernadette Thomas, adapted for the blog:

Good Morning,

As you know, we are in the midst of celebrating National Nurse’s Week, which runs annually from Tuesday, May 6th through Monday, May 12th. This year’s theme, “Nurses Leading the Way,” is especially appropriate at this time, and especially for our nurses at CHC.

Nurses at CHC are always leading the way to realize the highest quality patient care. In the last year CHC’s primary care nurses have expanded their scope of practice through the roll out of multiple new standing orders for nurses and have handled nearly 15,000 calls on CHCs Nurse Line.

Nurses at CHC are also leading the way to expand access to quality care across the state of Connecticut.  Preparing for the nursing dinner, I had the opportunity to count up the nurses working across our agency: in Primary Care, in Behavioral Health, in School Based Health, in Administration, and in special programs like patient assistance and the early detection program.  Nurses now number over 100 at CHC.  This is in contrast to 35 nurses approximately 10 years ago.

And last night one of our own, Erin Scanlon, was recognized for excellence in nursing as the 12^th Annual Hartford Regional Nightingale Awards, for her tireless work to improve team spirit and spearheading an FDA investigation concerning scores of contaminated syringes.

To all of CHCs Nurses:  I am continually inspired by your willingness to take on the challenges of pushing our professional practice to new heights. You see the challenges of delivering care to our ever more complex patients as opportunities rather than a burden. And you innovate our practice to meet the operational and technical challenges without sacrificing the high touch and person centered qualities of care that are the lifeblood of the nursing profession.

Sincerely,

Bernadette