WRNMMC, Bethesda, MD  –   “Every day is a celebration of nurses,” said retired Army Col. Lozay Foots III, guest speaker at the annual Blessing of the Hands program at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center held on May 9.

The program is part of WRNMMC’s celebration of Nurses Week, observed every year from May 6 through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, who’s considered the founder of modern nursing. A 5K run/walk at WRNMMC on May 6 kicked off the celebration of nurses.

Foots, who during his time in uniform served as the deputy chief of the Army Nurse Corps at the Office of the Surgeon General, and director for nursing services at WRNMMC, discussed this year’s Nurses Week theme, “United in Service, Rooted in Strength.”

“If you think about it, when we started as nurses, we weren’t always as united as people would think,” Foots said. He explained Nightingale advocated for sanitation and safe health-care practices, including proper handwashing technique, frequent changes of the bedding of patients, ensuring patients received proper sunlight, avoiding overcrowded conditions, contaminated water, improper ventilation and bad drainage. Such measures were not widely accepted or practiced at the time Nightingale became a major advocate for them.

“We don’t always start as united as you would think,” Foots continued. “But the one thing that shows up is our strength. Our resolve and determination unite us to do the right thing. We act. We advocate for what is right. When we see something, we say something,” he added.

“Our charge and our challenge is to provide compassionate, dedicated and exemplary service,” said Foots, who now works as an executive health-care consultant in private industry.

Also as part of the program, WRNMMC’s deputy directors for nursing services said there are key words that best represent nurses.

“Each of us are equipped with compassion, but more than that, the patience required to take care of our patients. Thank you for being patience with our patients and each other,” said Navy Cmdr. Teresa Dent.

Nurses display perseverance, added Navy Cmdr. Dwayne Shepherd. He explained nurses have consistently provided exemplary care and service while dealing with an “unprecedented pandemic and other conditions. “They continue to work hard to take care of our patients,” he said.

Army Col. Wendy Woodall said nurses are professionals. “By definition, a profession is one that involves prolonged training and formal qualification. Our profession is one of the hardest undergraduate degree programs in the United States. Our licensure exam is just the beginning of our endeavors as we work to add that alphabet soup of letters after our names, all just to validate the mastery of our skills. And for the last 20 years, it’s no surprise that nursing has been ranked as the most trusted profession annually in the United States, because we are excellent at what we do. We are professionals.”

“We’re proud of each and every one of you,” Trent added. “We are blessed to have such a magnificent staff.”
Air Force Maj. Raymond Nomel, Army 2nd Lt. Kathryn Watkins and Navy Ensign Alexander Gianquitti then gave prayers for nurses in each of their respective services, and Esther Seale, provided the Nurse’s Hands Prayer for civilian, contract and volunteer nurses. The Nurse’s Hands Prayer includes the lines, “Blessed be these hands that have touched life. Blessed be these hands that have felt pain. Blessed be these hands that have embraced with compassion.”

The prayers were followed by the lighting of the candles by those in attendance, symbolic of the lamp Nightingale carried while providing care to those patients wounded, ill and injured during the Crimean war. She became known as “the lady with the lamp.”

Claudia Chavez, recognized for 25 years of nursing during the program, led those in attendance in reciting the Florence Nightingale Pledge. She said Nightingale’s lamp became a symbol of hope, strength and healing to her patients. “I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly to pass my life in purity and to practice my professional faithfully,” the pledge begins.

Before chaplains blessed the hands of the nurses and health-care providers, Army Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Brian Reed explained that Nightingale possibly began the practice of the blessing of the hands, believing that the human touch is an important component of health care.

“Many credit Nightingale for establishing a school of nursing, pioneering the use of quality improvement metrics in health care, and assisting hospitals of the time transform into safer and cleaner facilities, which greatly reduced mortality. Her writings are credited with worldwide health-care reform,” Reed said. He added the first Nurses Week was celebrated in 1954, the 100th anniversary of Nightingale’s mission in Crimea.

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation stating that May 6 would henceforth be National Nurses Day. In 1990, the American Nurses Association (ANA) expanded the one-day observance into a week-long celebration of nurses.

The blessing given while chaplains blessed and anointed the hands of nurses and providers states, “May your hands bring comfort and healing to those they touch.”

“The Blessing of the Hands ceremony recognizes the nurse as an instrument of healing and affirms our commitment to Walter Reed’s values of patient-centered [care], professionalism, inclusion, teamwork, respect and trust. Today and every day, we should thank God for and bless our nursing staff for their most sacred work to provide holistic healing to all they serve,” Reed said.