The American health care system is in a crisis of soaring costs and epidemics of preventable diseases; poor health literacy contributes to these problems. In spite of the need for change, the system is resistant. Efforts to address the crisis must focus on new ways of educating the public to understand their health and how to prevent illness. Nurses calling for leadership, innovation, and inspiration are uniting behind the proposal for an Office of the National Nurse to serve as the vehicle for the delivery of accurate and accessible health information to all Americans to reduce the incidence of preventable diseases.
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