Union County Women of Excellence Awards
Virtual Presentation on Women in Health Care
In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Union County Board of County Commissioners is pleased to present a free lecture on Zoom titled, Caring Cures: The importance of women’s nursing work from the flu pandemic through COVID, on Tuesday, March 29 beginning at 6:30 p.m.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been a history-making challenge for women on the front lines of health care. We hope this presentation raises awareness about the importance of care givers in times of crisis, in honor of the 2022 Women’s History Month theme of hope and healing,” said Union County Commissioner Chair Rebecca Williams.
The featured speaker is Dr. Patricia D’Antonio, the Carol E. Ware Professor of Mental Health Nursing and Director of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, and the author of American Nursing: A History of Knowledge, Authority and the Meaning of Work and Nursing with a Message: Public Health in New York City, 1920-1940
The work of nursing is often taken for granted, but the routines of feeding, cleaning, turning, maintaining hygiene, and monitoring warmth and other patient conditions can make the difference between sickness and health, life and death. Dr. D’Antonio will discuss the invisible and private work of nursing the sick and argue for its life-saving importance, using examples from the flu pandemic of 1918 and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Women’s History Month is a national celebration of the contributions women have made to the United States and their communities, taking place each March by Presidential proclamation.
The theme of Women’s History Month 2022 is “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope,” as a tribute to the caregivers and frontline workers during the COVID-19 outbreak and a recognition of women’s contributions to healing and hope across all cultures, and throughout history.
The Zoom lecture is presented by the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, a division of the Union County Department of Parks and Recreation, and is funded in part by a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a Division of Cultural Affairs in the Department of State.
For more information about the event contact John Prescott, History Program Coordinator at the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs at (908) 436-2912 or by email jprescott@ucnj.org.
More information about the Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs is available at ucnj.org/cultural, or contact the office at 908-558-2550 or culturalinfo@ucnj.org.
For information and updates on all Union County services during the COVID-19 outbreak, including free vaccination, free testing, emergency food distribution and other support services, visit ucnj.org/covid19. General information about COVID-19 is available through the New Jersey Department of Health at nj.gov/health.