Top nurses recognized for impact on warfighter care, resilience, and medical readiness

“Nursing is more than a profession,” said Dr. Kristen Atterbury, the Defense Health Agency chief nursing officer, during the National Nurses Week ceremony at Defense Health Headquarters May 7.

“It's a mission of service, compassion, and resilience. You are healers, educators, and leaders at all levels — from the bedside to the boardroom, and from the front lines to the headquarters.”

In honor of National Nurses Week May 6-12, 2026, Atterbury joined the DHA workforce to recognize nurses across the Military Health System and their selfless dedication to warfighter readiness. The 2026 theme was ‘The Power of Nurses.”

“That power is seen through the quiet strength and leadership you demonstrate in moments of crisis, and the compassion that comes through when caring for those who are at their most vulnerable,” Atterbury said.

Across the DHA, more than 23,000 military and civilian nurses serve in military hospitals and clinics. They work in inpatient and ambulatory care settings, and countless specialties across the enterprise. The profession supports evidence-based, patient-centered care and strengthens the agency’s medical readiness mission.

Nurses have been named the “most trusted profession because of your ethics, dedication, and integrity,” Atterbury said, adding that trust “lies in our ability to bring healing to those who defend our nation and their families, and our role is essential to build a community of care that honors courage.”

Aligning with the DHA’s director’s lines of effort to keep service members healthy and lethal, help the medical force stay as ready as the warfighters they treat, and deliver high-quality care to all beneficiaries, “nursing is an important part of our healthcare system … what we do is so important for our warfighters and their families,” Atterbury emphasized.

Top military nurses honored for National Nursing Week

The DHA Nursing Awards, announced May 11, recognized outstanding military and civilian nurses across the Department of War for excellence in clinical care, leadership, and innovation. The program honored personnel in four categories, including patient care, safety, evidence-based practice, and healthy work environments. Four MHS nurses received awards for their impact on patient care, staff resilience, and medical readiness.

DHA Nursing Awards winners:

For more about the history of nurses in the military, visit interactive timeline, and learn more about how nursing has evolved from wartime necessity into a permanent arm of military medicine.