In life-changing moments, quiet conversations, and bold ventures, nurses forge bonds in their communities. To celebrate National Nurses Week, May 6-12, the American Nurses Association spoke with several members who are making a positive impact by uplifting vulnerable patients, fighting for fair treatment, and honoring nurses who made history. Here are their stories.

Courageous choices

International Nurses Day took on a new meaning this year for Carol M. Banasik, a retired RN from Connecticut and an American Nurses Association member. Banasik is the daughter of a World War II veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, the last major offensive of the Germany military on the Western Front and well-documented as one of the most brutal conflicts of the war. Her father rarely spoke of his wartime experiences, so Banasik only learned that he had been stationed in Bastogne, Belgium, when she read his obituary.

As she researched her father’s military experience, she learned about a valiant chapter in nursing history.

“I came across the book, Angels of Bastogne: A Remembrance of World War II, by Glenn H. Ivers,” said Banasik. “It was an amazing story of two Belgian nurses who came home to Bastogne to celebrate Christmas in 1944. But instead of enjoying the holiday, they volunteered to assist American physician John T. Prior in the 10th Armored Division Aid Station.”

The nurses, Renée Lemaire and Augusta Chiwy, were aware of the consequences they might face for collaborating with the allied forces but eagerly volunteered. They had no idea their decision would leave an extraordinary legacy.

“Lemaire was killed during a bombing on Christmas Eve along with 30 American soldiers for whom she was so diligently caring,” explained Banasik. “Chiwy was injured in the attack but survived and continued to work on the battlefield until the battle ended on January 25, 1945. Due to these two nurses, many American servicemen’s lives were saved.”

Moved by the heroism of these young women, Banasik contacted the Belgian Red Cross in 2024 with the hope of having the Nightingale Medal awarded to Lemaire and Chiwy as part of the 80th anniversary of the battle. “Unfortunately, due to certain time limits and rules, the medal commission could not award it,” she said.

In 2020, the city of Bastogne dedicated the Nurses of Bastogne Memorial to Lemaire and Chiwy. The monument also honors all the nurses who risked their lives during World War II.

Banasik hopes to do more to formally recognize these brave nurses.

A member of the Connecticut Nurses Honor Guard, Banasik wants to help establish a Nurses Honor Guard in Bastogne in memory of Lemaire and Chiwy. She plans to gauge interest when she’s in Bastogne May 11-12 as part of a trip honoring her father’s service.

“It’s always been my wish to trace Dad’s battle route,” Banasik explained. “I want to remember my dad and all who served, and honor Renee and Augusta on May 12, International Nurses Day.”

Caring connections

It’s just one word, but it means everything.

“Ubuntu is a word from the languages of southern Africa that translates to “the power of we”—it’s a philosophy that emphasizes our shared humanity and connectedness,” explained Gifty Boateng, MSN, RN, CPAN. This concept has shaped her entire life, from helping her aunt set up healthcare clinics in her native Ghana as a child, to becoming a nurse, to battling food insecurity in Delaware and around the world.

A self-described lifelong caregiver, Boateng and her family were active in their Ghanian community and church. “I watched my mother care for others, so from a young age, that became my passion, too.”

After migrating to the Bronx, New York, as a teenager in 1996, Boateng embraced her new community by volunteering at soup kitchens and participating in fundraising walks. But it was during her high school internship as a secretary at Worcester Medical Center that she discovered she could make an impact as a nurse.

She earned her nursing degrees at Delaware State University and now works as a perianesthesia nurse manager at Bayhealth in Dover.

Boateng, a Delaware State Nurses Association member, believes that improving patient care starts with amplifying nurses’ voices, which she has made a priority throughout her career.

In addition to her current role as president of the Chesapeake Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses, Boateng serves as the Delaware State Nurses Association’s associate membership growth director for Kent County. She’s also the director of innovation for the Ghanian Diaspora Nursing Alliance, which fosters local and global relationships among nurses in the diaspora.

After losing a coworker to suicide in 2019, Boateng and a colleague founded Noble Nurses Network, which brings nurses together for events like Self-Care Saturdays and Nurses Night Out. The group visits nursing homes, donates food, and raises money to support nurses and the community.
“We need to take care of ourselves to provide exceptional care to our patients,” said Boateng. “That’s where Ubuntu comes in—the support of your team is what helps you excel.”

Boateng later founded the Global Ubuntu Impact Foundation, which aims to bridge the health equity gap by providing free health screenings and education and supporting food-insecure people in Kent County. “We put healthy food in a refrigerator outside a clinic for low-income and uninsured patients that anyone can access.” she said.

“To me, nurses are the root of the healthcare tree,” explained Boateng. “Without the root, the tree is not going to grow and flourish. We make such an impact on patient care—not just within the walls of the hospital, but in our communities, our homes, and our churches. That is why I love being a nurse.”

Healthy futures for all

When Amber Porter, DNP, FNP-BC, sees a patient, she does more than assess their healthcare needs. She asks for their story.

“Their story is important to their future,” she explained. Porter works as a nurse practitioner in a clinic at Circle the City, an organization that serves unhoused people in downtown Phoenix. She recently started a memory clinic to evaluate homeless seniors for cognitive decline.

Her interest in working with vulnerable populations arose in 2016 when she developed a transitional care clinic at an inner-city hospital in Phoenix as part of her doctoral work.

“I saw a lot of folks who were either unhoused, didn’t have resources to afford their care, or had low health literacy,” she recalled. “Those factors led to readmissions. The discharge process was not tailored to their needs.”

Many of Porter’s patients suffered from chronic illnesses but only sought care for emergencies. When vulnerable people miss their healthcare appointments, it can lead to further illnesses and injuries.

“Their healthcare provider may be the only person that extends a caring hand to them,” said Porter, an Arizona Nurses Association (AZNA) member. “While they’re with me, I need to form a human relationship, so they’ll trust me and want to come back to see me.”

She first became familiar with Circle the City when she referred a patient to its medical respite facility and stopped by to check on him. The organization was able to match this individual with housing after his discharge. Porter was so impressed with the programming that she began donating to Circle the City, not imagining that someday she’d work there.

She started the memory clinic after an Arizona State University study found that 80% to 90% of older adults in Arizona’s largest homeless shelter experienced some degree of cognitive decline. She and her colleagues screen patients for memory issues as well as depression, anxiety, fall risk, and other problems that can contribute to cognitive impairment, like diabetes or hyperlipidemia.

“It’s important that we start processes early to intervene and do what we can to decrease the impact of cognitive decline on them, perhaps slowing the progression,” she explained.

Ensuring that patients get the care they need is something Porter has been fighting for throughout her career. While serving on the board of the Arizona Nurses Association’s nurse practitioner chapter, she advocated for advanced practice RNs and patient access to care. She currently serves as AZNA’s governmental affairs officer.

“When a patient feels powerless, nurses stand in the gap and serve as their voice and their strength,” said Porter. “That’s what healthcare for all means to me.”

Fighting for pay equity

The Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) recently championed the cause of nurses and achieved notable success against an unwritten policy at a hospital that saw nurses with international experience paid less than their U.S.-educated colleagues.

When Kathleen Jabasa, MSN, RN, came to the United States to practice as a wound care nurse in Arizona, she didn’t know about wage steps or how past working experience might factor in a nurse’s pay. Years later, when precepting nurses at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, she learned she was being paid less than nurses with less experience. Many of her colleagues, including Roxy George, trained in India, were also affected.

A native of the Philippines, Jabasa had passed the National Council Licensure Examination and a test of English proficiency. She practiced initially in the peri-operative department at a tertiary hospital in Cebu City, then earned her MSN and served as a clinical instructor at Cebu Doctors’ University.

“As Filipino nurses, our training is on par with the United States,” Jabasa said. “We use the same books. We treat the same kinds of patients. There is no reason a Filipino nurse should be valued as half.”

The quest for equal pay for international nurses at St. Joseph Medical Center took place over a 6-month period in 2024, when the WSNA representative at the hospital, Jared Richardson, MSN, RN, requested information from the organization on the practice of crediting international experience (except Canada) at one-half of U.S.-based experience. This didn’t correspond with the WSNA contract language, which called for placing nurses on wage steps based on experience, not specifically where the experience came from.

Richardson also surveyed members of the bargaining unit. In August, international pay parity became part of WSNA’s contract negotiations with St. Joseph’s Medical Center. As part of a 3-year contract ratified in December 2024, wage steps for nurses with international experience will be recalibrated to reflect their actual years of experience.

The outcome of this negotiation achieved pay equity not only for the 31 nurses in question but also potentially for internationally trained nurses employed at other organizations. “As international RNs, we finally feel seen as whole professionals, not just half the nurses we were once perceived to be,” Jabasa said.

“This victory is a prime example of what a union can do in standing up for fairness and winning,” said WSNA’s Executive Director David Keepnews, PhD, JD, RN, FAAN. “I hope it will spur further efforts to advocate for equity for our colleagues from other countries.”

(Adapted from an article published in The Washington Nurse.)

— Elizabeth Moore is a content creator at the American Nurses Association.

American Nurse Journal. 2025; 20(5). Doi: 10.51256/ANJ052538