1-1 ****** NEED TWO-PAGE HEADER ****** 1-2 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 799 1-3 WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas is pleased to join 1-4 Mercy Health Systems of Texas and Mercy Health Center of Laredo 1-5 in recognizing May 6 through 12, 2001, as National Nurses Week; and 1-6 WHEREAS, Mercy Health Center of Laredo has named May 3, 2001, 1-7 Nurses' Day in celebration of National Nurses Week; the Nurses' 1-8 Day theme is "Nurses are the Heart of Mercy"; and 1-9 WHEREAS, The first National Nurse Week was observed in 1-10 October of 1954; in 1974, the International Council of Nurses 1-11 proclaimed May 12 as International Nurse Day, and in February of 1-12 that year, the White House designated a National Nurse Week; in 1-13 1982, President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation recognizing 1-14 May 6 as National Recognition Day for Nurses, and the American 1-15 Nurses Association expanded that day to a week-long celebration 1-16 in 1990; and 1-17 WHEREAS, The nearly 2.7 million registered nurses in the 1-18 United States comprise our nation's largest health care profession, 1-19 and the demand for nursing services will continue to grow due to 1-20 the aging of the American population and the explosive growth of 1-21 home health care services; and 1-22 WHEREAS, The cost-effective, safe, and first-rate health 2-1 care services provided by nurses will be an ever more important 2-2 component of the United States health care delivery system in the 2-3 future; and 2-4 WHEREAS, Nurses are an indispensable component in the safety 2-5 and quality care of hospitalized patients, and a renewed emphasis 2-6 on primary and preventive health care will require the better 2-7 utilization of all of our nation's registered nursing resources; and 2-8 WHEREAS, Through the Sisters of Mercy, Mercy Health Center 2-9 has been delivering quality health care in Laredo since 1896 and 2-10 has grown from a two-bed facility to a 340-bed facility; Mercy 2-11 Health Systems of Texas encompasses Mercy Health Center, Mercy 2-12 Health Plans, and Laredo Medical Group; now, therefore, be it 2-13 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 2-14 77th Legislature, hereby join Mercy Health Center of Laredo 2-15 in proclaiming May 3, 2001, as Nurses' Day; and, be it further 2-16 RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared as a 2-17 memento of this occasion and as an expression of esteem from 2-18 the Texas Senate. 2-19 Zaffirini 2-20 ______________________________________ 2-21 President of the Senate 2-22 I hereby certify that the above 2-23 Resolution was adopted by the Senate 2-24 on April 23, 2001. 2-25 ______________________________________ 2-26 Secretary of the Senate 2-27 ______________________________________ 2-28 Member, Texas Senate