Toward a caring culture in professional nursing.

Nursing is a profession founded on the traditional value of caring. Faced with rapid and tumultuous change in the health care system, nurses are finding the environment of practice more stressful and less supportive. The ideal of nursing as a caring community is at risk because of economic and political forces.

Proactive changes in nursing work force development in Tennessee.

Problems to be addressed by the CIC grant have been identified and defined, and a coalition has been formalized to address nursing work force development in Tennessee. The THCN, composed of consumers, nursing educators, policy makers, healthcare providers, and representatives of professional organizations and regulatory boards, is enthusiastically tackling the implementation phase of the project. These members are demonstrating open communication, teamwork, and interdependent decision making.