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Arizona nurses were honored May 1 during the seventh annual Promise of Nursing for Arizona.

More than 250 nurses were on hand at the Phoenix luncheon to salute the accomplishments of the state’s more than 65,000 nurses.

Each nurse sported a yellow or pink orchid, compliments of the American Nurses Association, while they reflected upon the contributions of their peers. The program, sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, the Arizona Nurses Foundation, and others, invests in the future of nurses. Proceeds benefit the Arizona Nurses Foundation’s scholarship program.

ANF Chairwoman Anne McNamara, RN, PhD, welcomed nurses to the event.

“This premier celebration is to recognize the accomplishments of Arizona nurses who have one purpose in mind — the care of our patients,” McNamara said.

Keynote speaker Jennifer Krawcheck, RN, MSN, spoke about her approach to overcoming life’s challenges.

“I sit on the stage before you, completely paralyzed from the chest down, with no realistic hope of being able-bodied ever again in my lifetime, and I wouldn’t change a single thing,” she said. Krawcheck continued to tell the story of how she suffered a spinal injury that changed her life. “I don’t view myself as disabled. I am differently-abled. When it comes to a challenge, I don’t ask if. I ask how.”

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Terry Ratner, RN, MFA, is a freelance writer. To comment, e-mail editorMTW@nurseweek.com.