In honor of Nurses Week, the nurse recruitment and retention committee at the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Indianapolis, Ind., invited staff members to create a quilt that reflected the spirit of the facility's nurses. The committee members decided that developing the quilt would foster team-building, and that the finished product would represent the true spirit of the nurses who provide patient care for the veterans.

Each department received a square of Kona cotton. The nurses were instructed to create a design representative of their individual department on the cotton square using fabric pens, cross-stitch, embroidery, and applique. The entire process took about five months.

The committee displayed these individual quilt blocks during Nurses Week for nurses, patients, and staff to enjoy. After Nurses Week passed, the blocks were assembled into a quilt. It's now displayed during nursing recruitment fairs and other nursing activities.