THOMASVILLE — Southwest Georgia Technical College’s (SWGTC) Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) and Practical Nursing (PN) programs are making plans to celebrate National Nurses week in May. Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, National Nurses Day, through May 12, birthday of Florence Nightingale, founder of modern nursing.

The American Nursing Association (ANA) designated May 6 – May 12 as National Nurses Week in 1993, although it has been unofficially observed since 1954. This Week was established as a time to celebrate all nurses and their contributions to the healthcare system as a whole and within their respective communities. Not only is National Nurses Week a time to celebrate nurses, but also one to raise public awareness of the value of nursing and the vitality of their role in healthcare. According to the ANA, there are 3.1 million registered nurses in the United States, which comprises the largest healthcare profession.

During Nurses Week, SWGTC’s ASN and LPN students will be in-between semesters, so faculty plans to celebrate the week on May 21st, the first day of summer semester. Faculty will provide refreshments and a small token to all the ASN students, as well as the PN students. This is a special time for nursing faculty, staff, and students, as it allows for appreciation to be shown to everyone involved in this field.

“Southwest Georgia Technical College is proud to provide nursing graduates who have achieved educational excellence. The successes of our graduates can be attributed to the fact that our College prepares students to practice both the art and the science of nursing. It is our privilege to recognize all nursing students and faculty during this special week. As Florence Nightingale said we will ‘always keep up the honor of this honorable profession’,” Dr. Annie McElroy, SWGTC Vice President of Academic Affairs.

According to the American Nursing Association (ANA), nursing is a profession that embraces dedicated people with varied interests, strengths and passions because of the many opportunities the profession offers. Nurses have the opportunity to work in a variety of settings such as emergency rooms, school based clinics, and homeless shelters, to name a few. They have many roles — from staff nurse to educator to nurse practitioner and nurse researcher — and serve all of them with passion for the profession and with a strong commitment to patient safety.

“Nursing is a profession that one will never regret choosing. There is a reward at the end of each day when you have assisted a sick patient, or possibly assisted in the birth of a new life. The nursing profession is a heart filled profession where one should possess respect for people and their feelings and enjoy in caring for others. I am happy to be a nurse and to be an influence on many future nurses lives,” Tammy Bryant, ASN Program Director at SWGTC.

SWGTC’s ASN program is designed to prepare students as entry-level practitioners to provide safe, effective nursing care and promote healthy transitions for culturally diverse clients in a variety of settings. This program has been granted approval by the Georgia Board of Nursing and is accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission. The PN program is designed to prepare students to give competent nursing care and sit for the NCLEX-PN for licensure as practical nurses. This program designates selected number of academic and occupational courses which provide a variety of techniques and materials necessary to assist the student in acquiring the needed knowledge and skills to give competent care.

SWGTC offers more than 80 certificate, diploma, and degree programs. Many of these programs provide training for some of the nation’s fastest-growing career fields including Nursing, Automotive Technology, Clinical Laboratory Technology, and Criminal Justice Technology. More information may be obtained by calling 229-225-4096 or by logging onto www.southwestgatech.edu.

Summer semester begins May 21.

Southwest Georgia Technical College is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia.