Celebrating Nurses Today and Everyday

Growing up the son of a registered nurse in the Netherlands, my admiration and appreciation for the empathy and compassion nurses have for their patients began early on. I was struck by what a critical and important role nurses like my mother play in society and it’s one of the reasons I pursued a career in the medical field.?

Nurses are on the front lines delivering care to patients. They see the impact of everything good and bad in healthcare. And, it’s nurses who deal with all of life’s most profound moments, from life to death and everything in between. At Philips, we aim to improve the lives of billions of people, but nurses make this happen when they deliver care using our solutions. Every time I visit an emergency department, intensive care unit or a centralized telemetry unit, I’m inspired by the passion and commitment of the nurses I meet.

With 2.9 million registered nurses in the U.S., and arguably one of the most challenging times in history to be a nurse, there’s a tremendous opportunity to help those who have chosen this noble profession. It’s why on our Philips NA Connected Care team we have more than 200 nurses on staff who know first-hand what it takes to put patients first and recognize what tools they need to deliver superior care.?

The breadth and depth of knowledge our clinical staff brings to Philips is our most important and distinctive competitive advantage. Nurses, nurse managers and Chief Nursing Officers are the most important users of Philips’ acute patient management solutions. It’s one thing for them to have the best technology available, it’s another thing for them to know how to use it effectively. This is the value our clinical staff brings to our customers day in and day out.

I’ve learned countless lessons from nurses in both my personal and professional life, but one of the most important lessons came from Karen Sofia, a registered nurse who leads our New York-New Jersey district for acute patient management. Karen showed me how relatively small improvements in a clinical workflow – like the automatic integration of waveforms into a hospital’s Electronic Health Records (EHR) system – can have a tremendous impact on how care is delivered. Karen inspired me to continually ask the question “How will a nurse perceive this?” and consider it with everything we do. By having nurses on our team, we ensure whatever we do will make a real and positive impact on the day-to-day work for the nurses we serve. ?

My work with Karen is an example of a story I’ll be highlighting in a new series on my LinkedIn page profiling the nurses of Philips. I look forward to sharing their stories and encouraging discussion on how in order to achieve our goal of improving lives, it’s essential to understand the role nurses play in healthcare and consider how Philips can best support them.

My mother is now retired, focusing her care and compassion on our family and friends, but I’ll never forget her coming home from a long night shift to prepare breakfast for my brother and me before we headed to school. Thank you mom – and all nurses – for the selfless care and compassion you provide day in and day out to your patients and families. You are my definition of a hero.

We’re always looking for more dedicated nurses and clinical professionals to join our team, you can find more information here.