Excerpted Opening Session Remarks
Regarding the Establishment of the
National Nurses Response Team
Mary Foley, MS, RN, 31st President
American Nurses Association
2002 Convention Opening Ceremony
June 30, 2002, Philadelphia, PA

And, now, I'd like to turn our focus once again to the theme of our convention – Nurses Care for America – and to discuss with you an important initiative that is now underway, under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Public Health Service: The National Nurses Response Team (NNRT). ANA is honored to be a co-sponsor in this exciting partnership, which will result in the creation of a team of registered nurses dedicated to being prepared and ready to respond should there be another terrorist attack in the United States.

Since 1998, the ANA has been working with other national health professions associations and emergency medical and fire rescue representatives to address the issue of the overall readiness of health professionals to respond to the use of a weapon of mass destruction. I hope you heard about this initiative in 1998. It was long before the horror of September 11. We, as nurses, always plan, anticipate and try to respond so that nursing as a profession will be ready....

Clearly, since September 11 and the subsequent targeted release of anthrax, the need for this type of education and training for nurses is even more urgent.

We have heard many testimonies, including in ANA's House of Delegates session, from colleagues who responded following the events of September 11. But nursing's response to such a need is not new. We have always answered the call. And we now have another opportunity to serve this country....The ANA is extremely pleased to announce that we are partnering with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Public Health Preparedness and the Public Health Service in a new endeavor: the establishment of regionally based National Nurses Response Teams.

Before Rear Admiral Couig speaks, I would like to acknowledge Commander Roberta Lavin, who is a member of the Federal Nurses Association (FEDNA) and a delegate to this House. She services in the Office of Public Health Preparedness with Jerry Hauer, who has just been named the acting assistant secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness.

Finally, I would like to encourage you all to consider your opportunity to serve as part of the emergency response effort....So, please stop by the Public Health Service Exhibit and pick up information on it....

And now, I am proud to introduce Rear Admiral Mary Pat Couig, chief nurse officer of the U.S. Public Health Service....

[Rear Admiral Mary Pat Couig speaks...]

Thank you, Mary Pat. The National Nurses Response Team is truly an exciting partnership, and ANA is proud to be working with the U.S. Public Health Service and the Department of Health and Human Services, as they prepare for the onslaught of names of nurses they are about to receive.

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ANA is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.7 million Registered Nurses through its 54 constituent associations. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

2002 press releases

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