(Brandenton Herald) With more than three million nurse professionals in the United States alone, nursing is the largest segment of the healthcare industry and touches every facet of care from the doctor’s office to home care to hospitals. And as the nation continues its historic effort to overhaul healthcare, nurses have been implementing their own brand of healthcare overhaul as well.

“Over the past decade, nurses have been quietly working to redefine and expand their roles to the point where today they are impacting healthcare in ways most consumers aren’t even aware,” says Dr. Courtney Lyder, dean and professor of the UCLA School of Nursing. “Nurses have been championing quality-of-care improvements, spearheading research innovation, advocating for patient rights and generally challenging the status quo. Simply put, their impact has been enormous and will continue to be so over the coming decades.” [Read more...]