SENATE RESOLUTION CELEBRATING THE WEEK OF MAY 6TH THROUGH MAY 12TH OF 2026, AS NATIONAL NURSES WEEK IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, the official text

S3274 2026 -- S 3274 ======== LC006451 ======== STATE OF RHODE ISLAND IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026 ____________ S E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N CELEBRATING THE WEEK OF MAY 6TH THROUGH MAY 12TH OF 2026, AS NATIONAL NURSES WEEK IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND Introduced By: Senators Lauria, Felag, Tikoian, Appollonio, LaMountain, McKenney, Sosnowski, Rogers, Famiglietti, and Burke Date Introduced: May 08, 2026 Referred To: Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar 1 WHEREAS, National Nurses Week is held on May 6th through May 12th in order to 2 coincide with and celebrate Florence Nightingale s birthday on the 12th. She was a nurse who 3 became famous for treating wounded soldiers during the Crimean War, and for her efforts in 4 establishing nursing as a profession. She was affectionately known as The Lady with the Lamp 5 because during the war, she made a lot of her ward rounds at night while carrying a lamp; and 6 WHEREAS, This week is a time to acknowledge, honor, and express our heartfelt 7 gratitude to Rhode Island s brave, dedicated, and determined nurses who day after day and month 8 after month care for us; and 9 WHEREAS, Registered nurses in the United States constitute this Nation s largest 10 healthcare profession; and 11 WHEREAS, The depth and breadth of the registered nursing profession met and 12 exceeded the different and emerging healthcare needs of the American population during the 13 COVID-19 pandemic and in a wide range of settings; and 14 WHEREAS, The American Nurses Association, celebrating its 130th anniversary as the 15 voice for registered nurses across this country, is working to chart a new course for a healthy 16 Nation that relies on increasing delivery of primary and preventive healthcare and requiring better 17 utilization of all our Nation s registered nursing resources; and 18 WHEREAS, Professional nursing has demonstrated itself to be an indispensable 19 component in providing safety and quality of care for hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients; 1 and 2 WHEREAS, The demand for registered nursing services is greater than ever, due to the 3 aging of the American population, the continuing expansion of life-sustaining technologies, the 4 explosive growth of home healthcare services, and the need to develop coordinated networking to 5 prevent and contain new and emergent widespread infectious diseases; and 6 WHEREAS, More qualified registered nurses will be needed in the future to meet the 7 increasingly complex needs of healthcare consumers in this country and across the world; and 8 WHEREAS, The cost-effective, safe, and high-quality healthcare services provided by 9 registered nurses will be an increasingly important component of the United States healthcare 10 delivery system in the future; now, therefore be it 11 RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby joins the American 12 Nurses Association in celebrating May 6th through May 12th, 2026, as “National Nurses Week” 13 with its theme “The Power of Nurses” in appreciation of nurses’ unparalleled impact on our lives 14 and their contributions to all aspects of health care, and be it further 15 RESOLVED, That this Senate moreover urges all the residents of the State to join in 16 honoring and thanking the registered nurses who have selflessly cared for us all, and to celebrate 17 their efforts and accomplishments in improving our healthcare system, not just during this week, 18 but at every opportunity throughout the year; and be it further 19 RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to 20 transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the American Nurses Association, the United 21 Nurses & Allied Professionals, and the Rhode Island State Nurses Association. ======== LC006451 ======== LC006451 - Page 2 of 2