Nursing Today
Nursing is an innovative,challenging and rewarding career that’s in high demand,offering those who pursue this career an opportunity to profoundly change human health. Working on the front-lines of patient care, nurses can choose from many specialties, and work in a wide variety of treatment settings.
A spirit of innovation
Nurses work closely with patients, and understand patients’ needs better than anyone. Which is why they’re the ones who often find new solutions to health challenges, that can make a significant difference in patient outcomes.
A timeline of nurses changing human health
- 1854
- 1865
- 1910
- 1943
- 1950
- 1954
- 1968
- 1983
- 2003
- 2016
1854

1854
Florence Nightingale introduces sanitation and hygiene practices that are still used today.
1865

1865
Nurses discover that sugar can be used to clean wounds and fight infection during the Civil War.
1910

1910
Sister Elizabeth Kenny realizes exercise helps rehabilitate polio patients better than splints.
1943

1943
Bessie Blount Griffin invents the feeding tube for paralyzed patients.
1950

1950
Sister Jean Ward discovers that sunlight is a great way to treat babies with jaundice.*
1954

1954
Elise Sorensen creates the first ostomy bag.
1968

1968
Anita Dorr designs the first crash cart.
1983

1983
Nurses broke down barriers during the AIDS crisis.
2003

2003
Teri Barton-Salinas invents color-coded IV lines to reduce medical errors.
2016

2016
Rebecca S. Koszalinski gives cerebral palsy patients a voice by creating the Speak for Myself® app.*
*This image is an actor portrayal
Still leading the way
- Two Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellows hope to address the problem of attrition by mentoring nursing students and bedside nurses alike with the power of innovation.2022-03-18T17:24:54.334Z
- As a kid, Julius Johnson, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, watched his father, an ICU nurse, run toward every crisis. Julius loved the adrenaline rush, but he realized that what he really loved was helping people, so he became a nurse.2022-02-03T20:25:39.920Z
- Gina Brown, PhD, MSA, RN, FAAN, and Eileen Sullivan-Marx, PhD, RN, FAAN, are deans of two prestigious nursing schools in the U.S. Brown leads Howard University’s College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences and Sullivan-Marx leads New York University’s Rory Meyers College of Nursing. Together, they aim to tackle health disparities through an innovative collaboration in the classroom.2022-02-03T20:19:19.736Z
A profession in demand
With more roles and more job opportunities opening up every year across the country, it’s a great time to become a nurse.
Supporting Nurses on the Frontlines of Care
Nurses are critically important in addressing public health issues facing communities across the country. Through our partners and educational grants provided to independent, accredited continuing education (CE) providers, Johnson & Johnson is making resources available to nurses to address substance abuse and addiction. Here's how you can learn more:
Nurse.com Modules
Johnson & Johnson supported the independent development of CE modules on Nurse.com focused on opioid patient counseling and care.
Nursing Opioid Education Hub
Johnson & Johnson supported the independent development of the Nursing Opioid Education Hub, a CE resource focused on appropriate pain management and prevention of opioid misuse.
AANP MAT Training
Developed by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, access training materials to qualify for the waiver application to prescribe medicated-assisted treatment (MAT).
Johnson & Johnson’s commitment to nursing
Johnson & Johnson has supported the nursing profession for over 120 years because we believe nurses are uniquely positioned to change the global trajectory of health for humanity. Nurses, over 29 million strong, are our critical partners on the frontlines of care and the backbone of healthcare systems around the world. We know that nurses are leaders, innovators, and compassionate caregivers, requiring resiliency and resourcefulness to navigate the intricacies of health no matter where and to whom they provide care, and we are committed to advocating for and empowering their strong voices to address healthcare access and workforce challenges.
A career with choices
With so many specialties, skills, and environments to choose from, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to do what you love and create the career you want.
In their own words
- 01
- 02
01

Most nurses are pushed into the hospital and clinical settings when there are many other opportunities for nursing out there.”
Avery
Emergency Nurse
02

You can obtain multiple degrees, you can travel the world with your degree in hand, and that's a big part of why nursing is so important. You're not bound to one area.”
Krystle
Perioperative Nurse
Something for Everyone
Take the next step on your nursing journey.