Tribal health consortium celebrates National Nurses Week: ‘We’re going to be reliant on nurses forever’

In honor of National Nurses Week, celebrated every year from May 6 to 12, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium hosted an outdoor carnival Wednesday in Anchorage, among a variety of special activities throughout the week.

The carnival featured cotton candy, popcorn, crafts and games and was held on the top floor of a parking garage on campus. It was also a way for staff to interact in a more relaxed atmosphere, said Laura Mullin, surgical services director at ANTHC.

“I don’t think we reflect often enough on the work that we do as a profession,” Mullin said. “It’s important to have these moments in time where we can reflect on what we bring to the process and what the process brings to us.”

In addition to honoring their current staff of nurses, Mullin said it is also an important week to help spread interest in the profession in the community.

“We’re going to be reliant on nurses forever,” she added.

In addition to staff at ANTHC, nursing students from Charter College, Alaska Pacific University and the University of Alaska Anchorage attended the event.

Nurses Week ends each year on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, who founded modern nursing. In addition, National School Nurse Day is celebrated the Wednesday during Nurses Week.