May 9, 2016

GOVERNOR RICK SCOTT PROCLAIMS FLORIDA NURSE WEEK

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Tallahassee, Fla.—Join the Florida Department of Health in thanking a nurse during Florida Nurse Week. Governor Rick Scott has proclaimed May 6-12, 2016 in appreciation of the dedication of Florida’s more than 600,000 nursing professionals. Nurses work every day to provide quality patient care in a variety of settings from hospitals to county health departments and schools.

“We are proud to have hard working and well qualified licensed nurses working in our county health departments and throughout the state. Their commitment to the health and well-being of every patient is honored by the Governor’s recent proclamation,” said Interim State Surgeon General Dr. Celeste Philip. “The work that nurses do every day helps to contribute to the health of all residents and visitors.”

Nursing is a high-demand occupation in Florida. Last year, the Division of Medical Quality Assurance received more than 30,000 initial licensure applications from registered nurses, according to the 2014-2015 Annual Report. However, as of June 2015, the Florida Center for Nursing reported that there were still nearly 12,500 registered nurse vacancies in Florida, with a 30 percent overall increase in vacancies since 2013.

Read the Governor’s proclamation here.

Working in conjunction with 22 boards and six councils, MQA licenses and regulates seven types of facilities and 200-plus license types in more than 40 health care professions, including nursing. For more information, please visit www.flhealthsource.gov.

About the Florida Department of Health

The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.

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