HOUSE MEMORIAL 28

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2020

INTRODUCED BY

Joanne J. Ferrary and Elizabeth "Liz" Thomson and

Debra M. Sariñana and Deborah A. Armstrong and Karen C. Bash

A MEMORIAL

DECLARING 2020 THE "INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE NURSE AND MIDWIFE" AND RECOGNIZING THE IMPACT OF NURSES AND MIDWIVES ON THE HEALTH CARE OF ALL NEW MEXICANS.

     WHEREAS, the nursing profession has the largest group of health care professionals in the United States and New Mexico and is the most trusted profession in the country; and

     WHEREAS, nurses provide care to patients from the beginning to the end of life; and

     WHEREAS, nurses practice in all health care settings without bias regarding social status, ethnicity, diversity, gender or religion of the patients in their care; and

     WHEREAS, nurses are filling new roles and care innovations to meet the ever-growing demand for health and health care services; and

     WHEREAS, the history of nurse-midwifery in New Mexico is part of the profession's earliest history in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, nurse-midwives responded to New Mexico's highest maternal mortality rate in the United States in 1943 with the founding of the Catholic clinic in Santa Fe; and

     WHEREAS, shortly thereafter, a plan developed by Sister Theophane for a school of nurse-midwifery was accepted by the archbishop, the director of the national children's bureau in Washington, D.C., and the New Mexico welfare and public health department; and

     WHEREAS, the earliest regulations governing the practice of midwifery in New Mexico were promulgated by the state board of public health on May 4, 1944; and

     WHEREAS, the official manual for midwives published in 1955 assisted New Mexican midwives who had attended classes in midwifery; and

     WHEREAS, both licensed and certified nurse-midwives are regulated by the department of health and have grown to be a significant part of the health care workforce of the state; and

     WHEREAS, in spite of the major roles nurses play in health care delivery and community outreach, there remain opportunities to increase understanding of the value of nursing; and

     WHEREAS, nurses look forward to working with partner organizations to communicate a contemporary and accurate view of the nursing profession and the critical work nurses do; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico nurses association joins the American nurses association in recognizing the impact of the nursing profession on health outcomes in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the world health assembly, the governing body of the world health organization, declared 2020 to be the international year of the nurse and midwife, in honor of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, on the two hundredth anniversary of her birth; and

     WHEREAS, the international year of the nurse and midwife celebration offers a platform to recognize past and present nurse leaders globally, raise the visibility of the nursing profession in policy dialogue and invest in the development and increased capacity of the nursing workforce;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that 2020 be declared the "International Year of the Nurse and Midwife" and that the impact of nurses and midwives on the health care of all New Mexicans be recognized; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of health and the executive director of the New Mexico nurses association.

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