The nursing profession was awarded an Honest Abe Award in 2007. The Honest Abe Award is issued to an individual, group, or company that has performed in an especially honorable way during the previous 12 months. M. Hirsh Goldberg established National Honesty Day in the early 1990s. In 2007, he cited the nursing profession for being ranked by Americans in a nationwide poll as the nation's most ethical occupation for the sixth year in a row. For more information, visit http://www.hmponline.com/PDF/USATodayGallupPoll.pdf or [email protected].

Nursing salaries are always of interest. There are approximately 2.4 million registered nurses in the United States earning $28.71 per hour. Nurses in California are the highest paid, with an average hourly wage of $36.12. The lowest paid registered nurses were in Virginia, Tennessee, Kansas, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania. For more information, see http://www.bls.gov/ted/2007/may/wk2/art05.htm.

Here are some interesting facts about nursing:

1. Registered nurses comprise the largest group of professional healthcare providers.

2. Job opportunities for all registered nurses are excellent and are anticipated to be through 2014.

3. Women make up most (92.3%) of the registered nurses.

4. There should be 1.2 million job openings for registered nurses alone by 2014.

For more information, visit http://www.dol.gov/wb.

In a recent opinion poll conducted by Sage Products, Inc, 59% of the 331 critical care nurses who responded said that they would grade their hospitals' protocol for heel pressure ulcer prevention as a "C" or worse. Five percent of the respondents said that they had no protocol in place for heel pressure prevention. The poll was conducted at the American Association of Critical Care Nurses National Teaching Institute and Critical Care Exposition, May 19 to 24, in Atlanta, Ga. National quality initiatives, such as the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's "Protecting 5 Million Lives From Harm Campaign," are raising awareness of patient care and hospital-acquired events. Preventing pressure ulcers is one of the campaign's interventions. Bed-bound patients are at the greatest risk of developing heel ulcers because increased pressure due to immobility decreases blood flow to the heel, causing a pressure ulcer to develop. Once developed, heel ulcers can take up to a year to completely heal. In severe cases, heel ulcers can result in limb amputation because of osteomyelitis, or acute or chronic infection of the bone. The average hospital stay is 4 to 5 days, and heel ulcers can develop in that short time span. One of the best ways to reduce the risk of heel ulcers is to use devices designed to off-load pressure on the heel. These devices include a floating heel design, adjustable panels, and breathable fabric for good air circulation, pillow-like support, and durability. For more information, contact [email protected].