HHS secretary Sebelius addresses nurse practioners in Las Vegas
Posted about 14 years ago by Stanley F Whittaker
By Trevon Milliard
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Jun. 23, 2011 | 2:00 a.m.
Updated: Jun. 23, 2011 | 7:50 a.m.
Federal lawmakers may have enacted health care reform, but nurse practitioners are the ones on the front lines. They must fight the status quo and put it to work, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said.
"Health care reform has opened the door, but we need you to show patients the way through,"
Sebelius told 5,600 nurse practitioners from around the country who convened in The Venetian ballroom Wednesday.
America's medical system needs a fundamental shift: being proactive instead of reactive, asserted Sebelius.
The United States has the most advanced medical technology and best education for providers in the world, she said.
"But Americans live sicker and die sooner," she said.
That's because of lifestyle.
"There's no one I'd like to talk to more than you," Sebelius said to the nurse practitioners, who focus on health education and disease prevention in addition to clinical care. "It won't be easy, but you didn't listen when critics said you couldn't run your own clinics."