The #1 reason nurses leave the job

This week, we discovered that INJURIES are the #1 reason nurses leave the job (do you agree?), and more…

1. NYU Langone nurse Menchu De Luna Sanchez gets a shoutout from Obama during the State of the Union speech–and a seat near the First Lady. Check out our post and video of the address here.

“It’s a dream of a lifetime. This is the best thing that ever happened to me,” Sanchez told the Daily News.

“We should follow the example of a New York City nurse named Menchu Sanchez,” Obama said. “When Hurricane Sandy plunged her hospital into darkness, her thoughts were not with how her own home was faring — they were with the 20 precious newborns in her care and the rescue plan she devised that kept them all safe.”

Source: NY Daily News

2. A Florida hospital is trying to combat nurse injuries by bringing in a fitness instructor to teach nurses about an active lifestyle and proper health. Sound like something your team might need?

“The largest percentage of nurses leaving the nursing profession is for injuries,” said Mike Flynt, a fitness trainer who created a nurse wellness program. “Their greatest asset is their health.”

“Not only are (nurses) athletes but warriors,” Flynt said. “I truly believe they are one of the most important workforces we have in America.”

Source: The Jackson Sun

3. A bipartisan bill has been introduced in Congress to create a new national nursing position that would focus on bolstering public health. 

U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, the first RN to become a member of Congress when she was elected in 1992, knows “from experience how nurses play a critical role in health promotion and disease prevention,” she said in a news release issued by her office. “Chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease threaten the health of so many Americans. The national nurse for public health would raise awareness about what each of us can do to prevent illness while improving our own health and that of our families.”

The Daily Beast is not impressed with the plan. Why? “What do I have against nurses? Not a thing, of course,” writes Michelle Cottle. “Without them, our health-care system would be an abject disaster. (More personally, my sainted mother has spent much of the last decade battling nasty health problems, and good nurses have been the ones to keep her sane throughout.) I do, however, have a problem with lawmakers’ pedaling feel-good legislation that is, at best, unnecessary and, at worst, wasteful and politically problematic.”

What are you thoughts? Weigh in in the comments below!

Sources: Nurse.com & The Daily Beast