Memorial Celebrates National Nurses’ Week

As part of the medical hub in East Texas, the nurses at Memorial are an integral component of the well-being of the community. Each year, the nation recognizes the important work done by nurses during National Nurses’ Week. Memorial honored the commitment and excellence its nurses provide to Angelina County and the surrounding communities during a ceremony on Monday, May 5. The ceremony kicked off the start of the week-long celebration.

Mayor Bob Brown proclaimed May 5-9 National Nurses’ Week at the ceremony. Interim Chief Nursing Officer Maureen Winchell read the Nightingale Pledge, which was composed by Lystra Gretter, an instructor of nursing at the old Harper Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, and was first used by its graduating class in the spring of 1893. It is an adaptation of the Hippocratic Oath taken by physicians.

In part, the Pledge reads, “I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully…With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician, in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.”

Memorial President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Looper and Chief Operating Officer and System Vice President of Clinical Operations Peggy Mortensen praised the everyday efforts of the staff. Memorial Chaplain Brother Billy Jackson anointed the hands of all those nurses in attendance and prayed over each and every one.

All throughout the week, the staff at Memorial will participate in different “theme days,” such as Crazy Sock or Shoes Day, Hat Day and “Blast from the Past” representing the 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond.