It seems that Gareth Morgan, author of Health Cheque has put together an award and lots of pingers for NZ ‘s hardest working nurse. This award seems to me  almost redundant in this day and age. Hard work is a given when it comes to nursing…with hospitals understaffed, a health workforce shortage, budgets tightened and aging population of baby boomers who are more demanding and have higher expectations of the health services, nurses do not have a choice!

I don’t know about you, but this competition was totally under my radar….sad but true, it again illustrates the lack of fanfare that  seems to accompany most things nursing, unless it is media worthy-i.e., strike action or involving murder, mayhem, litigation or scandal. What a great opportunity for nursing to raise the profile of of the profession, to educate the public as to the specialist expertise, skill, knowledge and dedication required to be a successful nurse. But nope- haven’t heard more than a whisper on the major news waves….or maybe I have just been distracted by the holiday season.

So now that we know about it, let’s at least vote for those nurses nominated. And congratulate those organisations/individuals who nominated them in the first place!

“One of the key findings of Health Cheque, was that it was the hard working nurses that were largely holding the public health system together.” Gareth Morgan- Health Cheque