DGMC celebrates Nurse/Technician Appreciation Week

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Jessica Scirica
  • 60th Inpatient Squadron
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Beginning May 2, David Grant USAF Medical Center will launch a week-long celebration to honor its nursing and medical technician staff members. Nurse/Technician Appreciation Week kicks off with a celebratory picnic, followed by a variety of other educational and social events hosted by DGMC throughout the week to celebrate the skilled and compassionate team members providing care for you and your loved ones. 

Annually, National Nurses Week begins on May 6, marked as Registered Nurse Recognition Day, and ends on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, founder of nursing as a modern profession. The purpose of this week is to raise awareness of the value of nursing and help educate the public about the role nurses play in meeting the health-care needs of the American people. 

"Never before in the history of nursing have we seen the talent, dedication and commitment of our nurses and technicians. Today our nurses can be caring for a critical patient in the Intensive Care Unit and tomorrow find themselves on a battlefield providing lifesaving treatment for a war casualty," explained Col. Deborah Aspling, the 60th Medical Group's chief nurse at DGMC. "The nursing profession has evolved into critical-thinking professionals making treatment decisions in all specialty arenas of medical care." 

An essential part of the military health-care team, the Air Force includes the recognition of medical technicians in this week-long observance. "Our enlisted medical technicians are critical to the overall success of our Total Nursing Force," said Maj. Gen. Kimberly Siniscalchi, assistant Air Force Surgeon General, Medical Force Development, and assistant Air Force Surgeon General, Nursing Services, Office of the Surgeon General, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Bolling Air Force Base, D.C. "Our need for highly-skilled clinicians continues to rise and we are committed to training and developing enlisted clinical leaders." 

This increased need for capable and experienced personnel comes as no surprise when balanced with the fact that DGMC is the largest inpatient military treatment facility in Air Mobility Command and on the West Coast. Total DGMC patient encounters numbered 323,099 with 4,588 in-patient stays in 2008 alone. 

Supporting such a large census requires the proficient team at DGMC to perform in various and flexible roles. A nurse can be found serving in positions such as nurse practitioner, flight nurse, educator, outpatient clinic or inpatient nurse, and flight or squadron commander, to name just a few. Simultaneously, medical technicians can be found working as independent duty medical technicians, superintendents, in clinics or on inpatient wards, as instructors, or heading out to the flight line to pick up a wounded service or family member as aeromedical evacuation technicians. 

"Total Nursing Force nurses and medical technicians are providing remarkable operational support. We are well trained, highly skilled and committed to saving lives, educating others and improving quality of life through research," said General Siniscalchi. "We serve in this capacity not out of obligation, for we are an all-volunteer force. We are called to a mission of putting others first ... of caring for America's sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers." 

With those words in mind, if you find yourself interacting with a nurse or medical technician this week, consider taking a moment to say thank you for the valued care they provide.