Here’s to Our Heroes: Celebrating Frontline Nurses
As many of us are staying home to help flatten the COVID-19 curve, nurses and other health care professionals are going above and beyond, day in and day out, to provide the best possible patient care. In hospitals and clinics around the world, nurses are taking significant personal risk to ensure patients receive the treatment and care they need — underscoring their essential role in changing the trajectory of health for everyone, everywhere.
This selfless commitment to patients is an intrinsic trait of nurses, and the outpouring of gratitude for the global nursing community is both heartwarming and extremely well deserved. I feel fortunate to be part of a company with a legacy of nurse advocacy. Johnson & Johnson’s commitment to nurses spans 120 years and is centered around supporting them as caring and innovative leaders who improve patient outcomes and strengthen health systems.
In 2019, when the World Health Organization designated 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, we couldn’t have known how nurses across the world would be called on to shape the critical solutions needed to provide patient care during a global pandemic. As an executive sponsor and advocate of Johnson & Johnson’s enduring commitment to the nursing profession, I believe the innovations made by nurses today will not only help pull us through the present crisis but will also strengthen health care for years to come.
Throughout May — National Nurses Month in the U.S., which also includes International Nurses Day on May 12 — we've acknowledged the enormous efforts of nurses around the world. And, I’m proud to highlight some of the exciting work we've launched in support of nurses and others on the front lines. Across our Company, we’re mobilizing to provide equipment, training, our products and financial donations. For example:
- The Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies and the Johnson & Johnson Foundation have committed an additional $50 million to support and supply frontline workers.
- We’re providing support for the American Nurses Foundation’s Coronavirus Response Fund for Nurses and for the American Organization for Nursing Leadership to develop leadership and management training for nursing leaders on the front lines.
- And, through The Center for Health Worker Innovation, we expanded our current digital health partnership to improve coordination of COVID-19 support services for health workers in low- to middle-income countries. This collaboration with international partners Dimagi, PraekeIt.org and Intrahealth will help improve surveillance and contact tracing.
I continue to be inspired by the amazing stories of unwavering commitment to patients and nurse-led innovation we hear every day, and we’re always excited to share them. The SEE YOU NOW podcast miniseries titled “COVID-19: The Nurse Response,” which we developed in partnership with the American Nurses Association, focuses on how nurses are rapidly innovating to meet the demands of patient care during this unprecedented time. And, the recent episode of our “Road to a Vaccine” educational video series, which was broadcast on International Nurses Day, featured two nurse innovators.
To nurses around the world, thank you! And, know that Johnson & Johnson will never stop supporting, elevating and advocating for nurses as innovative, critical leaders on the front lines of care … just as you’ve never stopped caring for patients in need.
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To learn more about how Johnson & Johnson is supporting nurses, visit nursing.jnj.com.
See how Johnson & Johnson employees around the world are demonstrating their gratitude to nurses and all those on the frontlines via our Company’s #BacktheFrontline social media campaign @JNJGlobalHealth.