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36th MDG recognizes members during National Nurses Week

Tech. Sgt. Rosalinda Mateo, 36th Medical Group Women’s Health Clinic NCO in charge, and Maj. Robert King, 36th MDG Education and Training Flight commander, perform self-aid and buddy care on a dummy during training on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, May 8, 2013. The 36th MDG held combat-based training as part of National Nurse Week, May 6-12. The nurses and technicians trained on assessing patients, CPR, care under fire and other SABC tasks. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Robert Hicks/Released)

36th MDG recognizes members during National Nurses Week

Senior Airman Andrew Long, 36th Medical Group pediatric medical technician, and Tech. Sgt. Rosalinda Mateo, 36th Medical Group Women’s Health Clinic NCO in charge, perform CPR on a toddler dummy during training on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, May 8, 2013. The 36th MDG held combat-based training as part of National Nurse Week, May 6-12. The nurses and technicians trained on assessing patients, CPR, care under fire and other SABC tasks.(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Robert Hicks/Released)

36th MDG recognizes members during National Nurses Week

Airmen from the 36th Medical Group come under attack by water balloons while transporting a dummy to safety during training on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, May 8, 2013. The 36th MDG held combat-based training as part of National Nurse Week, May 6-12. The nurses and technicians trained on assessing patients, CPR, care under fire and other SABC tasks. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Robert Hicks/Released)

36th MDG recognizes members during National Nurses Week

Published May 16, 2013
By Senior Airman Robert Hicks
36th Wing Public Affairs

ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- Airmen from the 36th Medical Group recognized National Nurses Week here May 6-12 by testing knowledge and skills of nurses and medical technicians. The theme this year was focused on delivering quality and innovation in patient care.

National Nurses Week is celebrated every year in honor of Florence Nightingale, who is considered the founder of modern nursing and her medical contribution during the 1854 Crimean War.

"(This) week is a time where all the hard work, dedication and countless hours that nurses and technicians put in day in and day out, year 'round is highlighted and appreciated by other health care professionals," said Tech. Sgt. Sharnta Bullard, 36th MDG ambulance services NCO in charge.

Andersen took the celebration one step further by showing appreciation for medical technicians, making it Nurse-Medical Technician Appreciation Week.

"Across Air Force medical facilities, Nurse-Medical Technician Appreciation Week is celebrated in conjunction with the National Nurses week," said Senior Master Sgt. John Cruz, 36th Medical Operations Squadron superintendent. "The celebration not only recognizes the contribution of our nurses, but also the medical technicians, who are an integral part of nursing care delivery in the military treatment facilities."

During the training, the nurses and technicians participated in combat-based scenarios, where they moved from station to station, completing different tasks such as patient assessment, CPR, care under fire and other self-aid and buddy care tasks.

"The medic challenge offered our nurses and medical technicians an awesome opportunity to work together and put some of our readiness skills to the test, since we don't get a chance to utilize these skills every day," said Maj. Dana Baker, 36th MDG Flight Medicine nurse. "It was an exciting nurse-tech week exercise. It fostered teamwork, esprit de corps and allowed our medics from the different clinics to work together when they wouldn't normally get a chance to."