Hillary Clinton Says #NPsLead

At the 2016 Democratic National Convention (DNC), Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton became the first female presidential nominee of a major political party. No matter what your political persuasion, this moment will go down in herstory.

With more than 28 hours of live TV, the DNC provided a platform for some incredible people to give incredible speeches. Former president Bill Clinton stole the show with his mesmerizing story of Hillary’s life achievements and public service. He described her many accomplishments related to providing affordable healthcare for women and children. He even threw a shout-out to — you’ll never guess — nurse practitioners! He said:

“In 1979, just after I became governor, I asked Hillary to chair a rural health committee to help expand health care to isolated farm and mountain areas. They recommended to do that partly by deploying trained nurse practitioners in places with no doctors to provide primary care they were trained to provide. It was a big deal then, highly controversial and very important.

And I got the feeling that what she did for the rest of her life she was doing there. She just went out and figured out what needed to be done and what made the most sense and what would help the most people. And then if it was controversial she’d just try to persuade people it was the right thing to do.”

Only minutes after his shout-out, social media lit up from across the nurse practitioner community. My friends and colleagues, regardless of their political beliefs, were ecstatic to be part of the national conversation. You can read and watch Bill Clinton’s entire speech on NPR.

Earlier in the democratic primary, the American Nurses Association (ANA) endorsed Hillary Clinton for her life-long career as a healthcare advocate. The ANA president Dr. Pamela Cipriano explains, “Hillary Clinton has been a nurse champion… and believes empowering nurses is good for patients and good for the country.” The #NursesForHillary movement continued through the primaries and now into the general election.

Secretary Clinton responded warmly to the ANA, “I am honored to have earned the endorsement of the American Nurses Association… Across the country, nurses provide vital medical care to countless Americans every year. They care for our families and friends, they comfort us in times of uncertainty and grief, and they maintain continuously high standards of medical practice. You won’t find a harder-working, more dedicated, and a more trusted group of professionals anywhere.”

Continue reading my article on the Health eCareers blog, and check out their awesome NP jobs search engine!