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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.

  • Genevieve Handy standing on stage presenting
  • Changing the World

    Genevieve Handy, MSN, RN, CPNP, on How Nurses Are Changing the World

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
sugar cubes
1865
Nurses discover that sugar can be used to clean wounds and fight infection during the Civil War.
1910
Rehabilitating polio patients
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
An actor, seen here, is portraying a nurse caring for a child diagnosed with jaundice.
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
An actor, seen here, is portraying a nurse giving patients a voice by creating an app.
2016
Rebecca S. Koszalinski gives cerebral palsy patients a voice by creating the Speak for Myself® app.*
*This image is an actor portrayal
Innovate with us
We are proud to announce the Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Platform, featuring three programs focused on building skills, developing leaders, and advancing nurse-led innovation in healthcare for nurses at every stage of their careers.
In their own words
  • Video still of Tiffany Mauhaud in hospital setting
  • How nurses are changing healthcare and lives.

    Hear how a group of nurses solved a problem that people weren’t even aware of.

Still leading the way
  • Girl speaking into microphone with group of nurses gathered around her in a room
    To solve the nursing shortage and sustain a thriving workforce, it’s essential that new nurses transition to practice successfully. For three health systems, nurse residency programs are not only keeping nurses at the bedside but helping them build confidence and find belonging.
    2024-03-14T19:01:07.305Z
  • female nurse with stethoscope
    In the last two years, the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act has created programs that increase access to, and reduce stigma of, evidence-based mental health treatment for nurses and all healthcare workers. But there is much more work to be done to support our nation’s healthcare workforce. As Congress looks to reauthorize the bill, here are three areas of focus for 2024 and beyond.
    2024-03-13T17:31:28.448Z
  • Virginia Allen, LPN, the last known living Black Angel, at the DNPs of Color conference in Washington D.C.
    For its 100th episode, the SEE YOU NOW podcast attended the DNPs of Color conference in Washington D.C., to highlight a powerful conversation with Virginia Allen, LPN, the last known living Black Angel. Celebrate Black History Month with the trailblazing story of Allen and the nurses whose dedication helped to cure one of the most fatal diseases of the 19th century.
    2024-02-20T16:29:38.939Z
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:
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 125 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
Headshot of Avery Huggins
Most nurses are pushed into the hospital and clinical settings when there are many other opportunities for nursing out there.”
Avery
Emergency Nurse
02
Headshot of Kristle Simms
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
  • More than 90 specialties
    From trauma care to surgery to education to the latest technology, whatever you’re into, there’s probably a specialty to match.
  • A career to suit you
    Nursing is a flexible career that can adapt to anyone’s schedule, whether you’re a night owl, early riser, team player or prefer to be your own boss.
Take the next step on your nursing journey.
Group of smiling nurses in scrubs holding folders
Group of smiling nurses in scrubs holding folders
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