On Saturday, May 7, to kick off Nurses Week, nurses from Geisinger Wyoming Medical Center held a Community Health Fair & Family Fun Day in Kirby Park. The event was designed to spread info about the many public health services available to the Wilkes-Barre community.
More than a dozen local organizations, vendors, and elected officials like Congressman Matt Cartwright and State Rep Eddie Day Pashinski participated. Services offered health and wellness information while GWV nurses took blood pressure screenings. There was also plenty of fun for the kids with face painting, games, and other activities.
Nurses also spoke with attendees about the Patient Safety Act (HB 106 / SB 240), which would require minimum nurse-to-patient safe staffing ratios based on acuity in hospitals across the state. The bill, which has a bipartisan majority of co-sponsors in the State House, is currently being held up in committee by State Representative Kathy Rapp, Chair of the Health Committee.
Nurses and other healthcare workers across Pennsylvania are celebrating Nurses Week with a series of events, all of which seek to make sure nurses are involved in every part of solving this staffing crisis and have a voice in the decisions made in our hospitals and in Harrisburg.