Lakeland to Celebrate National Nurse Practitioner Week

LAKELAND -- City of Lakeland Mayor Bill Darsey joined representatives from Valdosta State University, Lanier Health Services, and the local state delegation Monday to declare Nov. 13-19 National Nurse Practitioner Week in Lakeland. Referring to the work done each day at VSU's College of Nursing, Darsey said, "It's a program that I am 100 percent behind and 100 percent for." He also told a personal story of how nurses assisted his family during a recent time of crisis. According to the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, nurse practitioners provide comprehensive, cost-effective, patient-centered services to patients of all ages and from all walks of life in need of primary, acute, and speciality health care services. "Health care in America today faces many obstacles, most notably rising costs and the shortage of available health care providers. Nurse practitioners are a large part of the solution to this problem," the academy noted.

Note: The Office of Communications will have more on National Nurse Practitioner Week in the coming days.