To continue the Nurses Week festivities, I went on a quest to learn more about the Nursing profession. I picked a few of my favorite facts to share with you.

 

  • In 2007 hospital staff nurses in the United States earned an average of $59,061.
  • Nursing is one of the fastest growing occupations in the United States. Unfortunately there is a shortage of nurses and nurse educators.
  • The average age of Registered Nurses has risen from 42.3 in 1996 to 46.8 in 2004.
  • Research indicates that advanced practice registered nurses can provide 60 to 80 percent of primary care services as well as or better than physicians and at a lesser cost.
  • Among professions in the United States, nurses rank first for their honesty and integrity, with 82 percent of Americans rating them "high" or "very high," according to a 2005 Gallup Poll. Nurses have consistently rated first every year but one after being added to the list in 1999.
  • The first nursing school in history dates back to 250 B.C. and was located in India.
  • There are more nurses than any other workers in the health care profession.
  • Florence Nightingale, the most famous nurse in modern history, was only a nurse for three years of her life.
  • Mary Eliza Mahoney became the first African-American nurse in 1879.
  • According to a report released by the American Hospital Association in April 2006, U.S. hospitals need approximately 118,000 RNs to fill vacant positions nationwide.
  • The earliest hospital uniforms for nurses were based on function and feminine virtue.

Does anyone else have any fun facts about things like nursing, hospital uniforms, scrubs or Nurses Week to share? I know that there’s a lot more than this to know about nursing and I would love for you to share your knowledge!