As part of her classwork in the Nursing in Community Health course, Cindy Baily talked to Mount Vernon elementary students about seat-belt use. Nursing has undergone many changes in recent years. It's fortuitous that our centennial comes at a time of great transition in our profession. With the possible exception of the 1930s, I don't think there has ever been a period in which nursing has undergone such evolutionary change. It is incumbent upon us at the College of Nursing to prepare our students for leadership roles.
Nurses are at the center of health care.
We are the hub of the wheel, so to speak, coordinating the contributions of other health care specialists for individual patients and families. We are the ones who know the patients best, who interact with the families. We are responsible for particularizing and adapting their care to meet their individual needs. In the past, nursing education focused on the setting in which the care was provided. We prepared nurses to work in hospitals, in schools, or in the home.