SAN ANTONIO (May 13, 2021) -- San Antonio Navy nurse corps officers hosted a virtual and in-person observance of the 113th Navy Nurse Corps birthday at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, May 13.
During the time-honored cake-cutting ceremony, Rear Adm. Cynthia Kuehner, director, Navy Nurse Corps, and commander, Naval Medical Forces Support Command (NMFSC), charged those in attendance to pause and reflect on the past year and challenges the nurse corps overcame at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In my journey of reflection and introspection, I looked back at the Sacred 20; the origin of our Navy Nurse Corps; those 20 nurses who were there in 1908 fighting to serve our nation,” said Kuehner. “They were in competition with other people. They were selected. They had to pay their way to their own interviews before they were considered and were recruited to become the original Sacred 20. If you think a journey of high reliability is hard right now, think about what it must’ve been for them; an aspiration of perfection, I think, was on the line every day for them because they knew what they represented. They knew that they were starting a place in history and they had a vision for that moment. They were on the verge of World War I, a global pandemic was just on the horizon for them, and they were starting something that they knew in that moment was much bigger than themselves.”
Kuehner emphasized the importance role Navy nurses play in the development of hospital corpsman in the Navy. The nurses at NMTSC serve as commanding officer, special assistants to the command leadership, department heads, divisional officers, and instructors.
“As I talk today, I am here in San Antonio with [Navy Medicine] Training Support Center which is the birthplace of our hospital corpsmen in terms of their early orientation to being a hospital corpsman, and setting them right on their journey to go out and serve forward with our fleet, our marines,” said Kuehner. “We understand where they’re headed. We understand the essential, critical mission of teaching them.”
As a result of COVID-19, Navy nurses across the fleet were forced to adapt to new circumstances and change the way they provided care to patients. At NMTSC, the Navy nurses established safe and innovative methods to deliver didactic and hands-on curriculum to Hospital Corpsman Basic program, (“A” school) students, continuing to deliver hospital corpsmen to the fleet.
“As nurses, we are known to be resilient and adapt to any situation presented us,” said Lt. Kyle Waite, division two officer for the Hospital Corpsman Basic program at the Medical Education and Training Campus (METC). “At NMTSC, nurse officers have embodied this belief and continue to exemplify the mission by continuously delivering well-trained and ready, medical professionals in support of joint global operations. During the height of COVID-19, we ceaselessly continued to execute this mission in concert with our hospital corpsmen and support staff.”
Over the course of a year, NMTSC has trained and graduated more than 3,860 students.
This year, the nurses at NMTSC wanted to celebrate the 113th Nurse Corps Birthday in a fun and meaningful way – a “blessing of the hands by NMTSC’s command chaplain, a run/walk, game tournament, and a potluck. In collaboration with NMFSC and the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED), the week ended with a cake-cutting at the JBSA-FSH USO, a ceremony which was livestreamed for nurse corps officers across the fleet to view. As with the tradition, the cake-cutting ceremony featured the oldest, or most senior Navy nurse in attendance, and the youngest, or most junior Navy nurse. Capt. Ann Case, commanding officer of NMTSC and Lt. Natalie McCormick, an instructor with the Hospital Corpsman Basic program, joined center stage to cut and pass the cake.
“Take the time today to reflect on every remarkable thing you’ve done,” said Kuehner. “Focus on the opportunities you’ve had because you’re a Navy nurse; because you’re serving our country. That’s what makes you unique and different. There are a lot of nurses out there, but only a handful of us can say, ‘I was a Navy nurse.’ Reflect today on your accomplishments; your achievements, and be proud of all those things. And then figure out, ‘How am I going to apply those things to the betterment of myself, my shipmates to the left and right, the corpsmen that I’m obligated to continue to teach and train, our nurse corps, our Navy, and certainly, our Nation.’ When you’re better, we’re better. So, keep going, forging ahead. You’re making history. Today, I celebrate you and I am just enthusiastic to say happy 113th birthday, Navy Nurse Corps!”
Join the conversation with NMTSC online at www.facebook.com/NMTSCFSH/.
| Date Taken: | 05.14.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 05.21.2021 13:27 |
| Story ID: | 396993 |
| Location: | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 60 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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