Film Spotlights Importance of Nurses

Film Spotlights Importance of Nurses

National Nurses Week may be two months away, but it’s not too early to mark your calendar. This year’s observance (May 7-12) includes the national release of a documentary spotlighting the contributions of diverse nurses working across the country.

As caregivers, nurses know what they do day in and day out. But the public may not understand. It doesn’t help that depictions of nurses on television shows and the big screen may be inaccurate or stereotypical. 

Filmmaker Carolyn Jones’ “The American Nurse” explores critical issues facing the nation by featuring the work and lives of five registered nurses. These same nurses were included in Jones’ coffee table book, The American Nurse, released in 2012.

The film’s nurses include: Jason Short with Appalachian Hospice Care, Inc.; Sister Mary Stephen Bloesl from the Villa Loretto Nursing Home in Mt. Calvary, Wisconsin; Brian McMillion at the Veterans Health Administration San Diego Medical Center; Tonia Faust from the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola; and Naomi Cross, a labor and delivery nurse at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Md.

The nurses will participate in a discussion at the film’s May 7 premiere at the American Film Institute’s AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. The American Nurses Foundation and Fresenius Kabi USA, a global health care company, will host the event. 

Want to learn more? Check out the film’s trailer here. For locations and showtimes, visit here.

Buying a ticket is a win-win. Proceeds from the film will support scholarships awarded by the American Nurses Foundation.

Robin Farmer is a freelance journalist with a focus on health, education and business. Visit her at www.RobinFarmerWrites.com

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