By Vi-Anne Antrum, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, CENP, FACHE, System Chief Nursing Officer & Senior Vice President of Cone Health

During Nurses Week, we celebrate the extraordinary role nurses play in every corner of health care. But celebration is not enough. If we are serious about building a sustainable future for health care in North Carolina — and beyond — we must move from appreciation to action.

Nurses are far more than caregivers. We are clinicians, scientists, innovators, and leaders.

Nursing is rooted in evidence-based practice, rigorous scientific training, and the relentless pursuit of better outcomes. Every day, nurses apply research to the bedside, drive quality improvements, and innovate systems of care that improve lives and save them. The public often sees the compassion of nurses — but it is our expertise, critical thinking, and scientific foundation that transform that compassion into healing and progress!

Without a robust nursing workforce, the quality, safety, and advancement of health care are at risk.

Today, we stand at a crossroads. An aging nursing workforce, increasing patient complexity, and mounting stress on health care systems have created an urgent need for action. The pipeline of future nurses must be expanded — not just in number, but in preparation, diversity and resilience.

This will not happen by chance. It requires strategic investment and working together.

It demands partnerships between health care systems, academic institutions, policymakers and communities. It calls for well funded nursing education programs, expanded clinical training capacity, strengthened support for nurse researchers, and the creation of environments where nurses can thrive and lead.

We must foster workplaces that champion well-being, diversity, and opportunity, so that when young people imagine their future, they see nursing not just as a job — but as a lifelong career where they can grow, lead, and make a difference.

At Cone Health, we are committed to this vision. We believe that every patient deserves a nurse who brings both cutting-edge knowledge and human connection to the bedside. A nurse who understands that science and compassion are not competing forces — they are inseparable parts of the extraordinary work we do. That’s why we have a CCNE accredited nurse residency program with seven specialty tracks (the only one in NC), why we have an LPN Academy, a Nurse Technician Academy, a CMA Academy, and an Executive Nurse Leadership Academy — to foster growth from the communities we serve into the profession we love; and to support growth and development opportunities into leadership at every level.

This Nurses Week let’s do more than say thank you.

Let’s challenge ourselves — as leaders, as organizations, and as a community — to secure the future of nursing through bold action and advocacy.

The strength of health care tomorrow depends on what we build together today. Thank you to every nurse who leads, heals, compassionately cares, and inspires. You are — and always will be — the foundation of health, hope, and innovation in every community we serve.

Happy Nurses Week!