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this nation is facing a serious shortage
of nurses. In Texas alone, the health care
system is expected to be short 70,000
nurses by the year 2020.
To address this critical issue, Johnson
& Johnson created “The Campaign for
Nursing’s Future” and hosts a series of
galas in cities across the nation. Each event draws attention
to this health care crisis while raising funds for the nursing
community and celebrating nursing professionals for their
outstanding contributions.
In February, members of the Harris College of Nursing & Health
Sciences donned their best cocktail attire to attend“The Promise
of Nursing for Texas” gala, held at the beautiful Hilton Anatole
in Dallas. Harris College helped sponsor the event, and the
evening was especially poignant because Christina Hamilton
’15 was selected as the only student to speak.
A junior nursing major from Arlington, Texas, Hamilton took the
podium and spoke to a room of 600 of the Metroplex’s most
influential nurses and health care experts about her personal
calling to become a nurse.
“For all of us in this room, I think I can attest that the profession
we have chosen is not just some box we clicked on an
application many years ago, but instead a calling that drives us
and has changed who we are,” Hamilton told the crowd.
“I realized that some of the most amazing people in my life are
nurses. They are strong, confident and compassionate people
who have not only impacted my life, but so many others with
their care.”
Hamilton also spoke of the classes she has taken at TCU that
have shaped her professional identity, Iike Dennis Cheek’s
pharmacology class. She also thanked her clinical professors
and expressed the pride she feels when she wakes up, puts on
her purple scrubs and goes out to help make a difference in
the world.
For the third-year nursing student, speaking at the gala was a
rewarding and rejuvenating experience. “I had people coming
up to me after my speech and telling me they were excited
for my journey as a nurse, and that they could relate to certain
things I said,” Hamilton explained. “They made me even more
excited for what is to come.”
To learn more about the Campaign for Nursing’s Future and
the “Promise of Nursing” galas, visit the official website at
PromiseOfNursing.org.
S TUDENT PERSONI F I ES THE
PROMISE OF
NURSING FOR
TEXAS
T
“FOR ALL OF US
IN THIS
ROOM, I THINK I CAN ATTEST
THAT THE PROFESSION WE
HAVE CHOSEN IS
NOT JUST
SOME BOX
WE CLICKED ON
AN APPLICATION MANY YEARS
AGO, BUT INSTEAD
A CALLING
THAT DRIVES US AND HAS
CHANGED WHO WE ARE”
By Megan Murphey ‘09
FEATURES
22
· Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences