Saint John’s Health Center and Florence Nightingale can trace their long and illustrative commitment to compassion and care to the mid-1800s and both have a long legacy of nursing excellence.
In celebration of this mutual devotion to caring excellence, Saint John’s will host an exhibit of original, handwritten letters by Nightingale on August 24 and August 25 in the atrium of the hospital’s Howard Keck Center.
The letters, written in 1861, feature Nightingale’s extraordinary vision for a higher standard of nursing education and training.
While Nightgale is remembered for her compassionate commitment to patient safety and healing, she was also a prolific letter writer. Purchased in 2009 by the publisher of NurseWeek, her letters are typically on display at nursing events, in museums or at fundraising galas.
“Our nurses pride themselves with providing the most companionate and advanced care for our patients,†said Donna Hendel, RN, Interim Chief of Nursing at Saint John’s. “They uphold the same dedication to their work as Florence Nightingale did so many years ago and their commitment to patient care would make her proud if she was alive today.â€
A special event for donors, trustees, nursing graduates, retired nurses and student nurses will be held on Tuesday, August 24 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and the exhibit will be open to the public on Tuesday, August 24 from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Wednesday, August 25 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The traveling exhibit is sponsored by NurseWeek, in partnership with the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future, which is a multi-year national initiative designed to enhance the image of the nursing profession, recruit new nurses and retain existing nurses. This is the first time, however, that the letters will be displayed at a hospital – thanks to Ray Holdgrafer, Saint John’s Recruitment and Retention Manager, who approached NurseWeek to see if it would be possible to bring the letters to Saint John’s. For more information on the Campaign, visit www.campaignfornursing.com. For more information about the Nightingale Letter Exhibit, visit www.stjohns.org.
About Saint John’s
Since its founding in 1942 by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Saint John’s Health Center has been providing the patients and families of Santa Monica, West Los Angeles and ocean communities with breakthrough medicine and inspired healing. Saint John’s provides a spectrum of treatment and diagnostic services with distinguished areas of excellence in oncology, spine, neurosurgery, orthopedics, women’s health, cardiac care and specialized programs such as the internationally acclaimed John Wayne Cancer Institute.
For more information, visit www.newstjohns.org.
