WEB PAGE TOOLS ~ Print this article ~ E-mail your opinion on this article OTHER NEWS STORIES ~ A milestone; Women's Center turns 25 ~ Professor feels targeted by anti-abortion messages ~ Parking garage coming to SCC? ~ Pressure washing trips power - Repair costs estimated at $25,000 ~ Student Senate Report for May 14, 2003 ~ News Briefs Distinguished alumna opens SCC celebration of National Nurses Week Scott Moran Special to The Ebbtide The SCC Nursing Program and the Association of Nursing Students kicked off their celebration of National Nurses Week on May 5 with a presentation by Washington State Nurses Association Hall of Fame recipient Elizabeth Thomas. Thomas, a 1972 graduate of the SCC Nursing Program, was the first African American to complete the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program at the University of Washington. She is well known and respected for her work with teen mothers, her community advocacy and her work in implementing Washington state immunization law. Thomas also is a recipient of the Human Rights Award from the Seattle Chapter of the U.N. Association of the United States of America and has met in Rome with Pope John Paul II, where she advocated for teens by openly debating the need for birth control as a means to prevent teen pregnancy. Photo courtesy of Scott Moran Elizabeth Thomas. Thomas told her Shoreline audience that she knew from an early age what her career path would be. As a little girl, she was barred from entering the hospital where her mother lay dying. "The nurse said I was too young to come in. My older brother took me outside and lifted me onto his shoulders so I could peer through the window and see my mother one last time," she recalled. "After that, I decided that I would join the health-care profession and become an agent for change." Her advice to nurses and students alike? "Never take no for an answer." National Nurses Week officially began May 6 and ended on Florence Nightingale's birthday, May 12. The theme for this year's celebration was "Nurses: Lifting Spirits, Touching Lives." "Twenty-first century nurses need the same strength and courage that Florence Nightingale demonstrated 150 years ago," said Dr. Janice Ellis, director of Nursing Education at Shoreline. "The headlines remind us each day that the challenges in health care are more numerous and complex than ever. But then, so are the opportunities and rewards." National Nurses Week is devoted to highlighting the diverse ways in which registered nurses, the largest health-care profession, are working to improve health care. An equally important focus is the growing need for registered nurses in this country. Currently, there are 2.7 million registered nurses in the United States. That may seem like a significant number, yet more than 1 million new nurses will be needed by the year 2010, according to a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics projection. The SCC Nursing Program, located in Building 2300, has graduated more than 2,200 nurses since 1966. The school awards an associate degree in nursing upon completion of the six-quarter program. Each fall, winter and spring quarter, the nursing program accepts 30 students into the first-quarter class. The SCC Nursing Program is approved by the Washington State Nursing Quality Assurance Commission and the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission. Scott Moran is a second-quarter SCC Nursing Program student. © 2003 Shoreline Community College™