American Nurses Foundation and Fresenius Kabi USA Host World Premiere Screening of the New Documentary “The American Nurse” May 7, 2014 During Nurses Week

SILVER SPRING, MD – March 5, 2014 – The American Nurses Foundation (ANF) and Fresenius Kabi USA announced today that the world premiere screening of The American Nurse, a powerful documentary by Carolyn Jones, will take place May 7, 2014, at the American Film Institute’s AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. The film will be released nationwide following this event, which corresponds with National Nurses Week.

The American Nurse explores some of the biggest issues facing America – poverty, war, aging, prisons – through the work and lives of five registered nurses, each of whom will attend the screening and participate in a discussion and Q&A with the filmmakers.

View the film’s trailer here: www.AmericanNurseMovie.com.

The event is open to pre-registered members of the media, and parking is available at numerous garages within a few blocks of the venue.

The American Nurse is a feature-length film by Carolyn Jones, who is known internationally for her socially proactive filmmaking and medium-format photography. The genesis for the film was Ms. Jones’s work on the award-winning book, The American Nurse: Photographs and Interviews by Carolyn Jones, released in 2012 and made possible by a grant from Fresenius Kabi, a global health care company specializing in medicines and technologies used to treat chronically and critically ill patients.

The nurses featured in the film include: Jason Short with Home Care Health Services, Appalachia; Sister Stephen Bloesl from the Villa Loretto Nursing Home in Mt. Calvary, Wisconsin; Brian McMillion at the Veterans Health Administration San Diego Medical Center; Tonia Faust from the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola; and Naomi Cross, a labor and delivery nurse at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland.

“This film is a celebration of the intimate, expert, steadfast, and compassionate care that nurses give to their patients each and every day,” said ANF Chairperson Joyce Fitzpatrick, PhD, MBA, RN. “Through the artistry and cinematic clarity of Carolyn Jones, that reality comes alive. And through the generosity of Fresenius Kabi, the stories of these nurses will reach a broader audience.”

“Because our mission is ‘caring for life,’ we at Fresenius Kabi feel a deep gratitude for, and a deep connection to the work of nurses,” said John Ducker, CEO, Fresenius Kabi USA. “As you watch this documentary, my hope is that it reminds you that health care is, at its core, a distinctly human endeavor. It involves people, often at their most vulnerable moments, caregivers and patients alike, coming together to make a difference. That’s why we are honored to support this project – and it’s why the people of Fresenius Kabi are so committed to supporting the caring work of nurses and others throughout health care.”

Following the premiere, “The American Nurse” will be released in select theaters nationwide beginning on May 8. Its theatrical distributor, DigiNext, a joint-venture between Digiplex Destinations and Nehst Media Enterprises, anticipates an expanding number of theaters will bring the documentary to major health care centers and their local communities throughout the month of May. The documentary’s official trailer and an updating list of theaters and show times are available at www.americannurseproject.com. The latest information about participating theaters can also be found at diginextfilms.com.

About the Film
The American Nurse is a documentary that will change how we think about nurses and how we wrestle with the challenges of healing America. Jason Short drives up a creek to reach a home-bound cancer patient in Appalachia. Tonia Faust runs a prison hospice program where inmates serving life sentences care for their fellow inmates as they’re dying. Naomi Cross coaches patient Becky, an ovarian cancer survivor, through the Caesarean delivery of her son. Sister Stephen runs a nursing home filled with goats, sheep, llamas and chickens where the entire nursing staff comes together to sing to a dying resident. And Brian McMillion, an Army veteran and former medic, rehabilitates wounded soldiers returning from war. Premiering in Washington D.C. on May 7 and releasing, nationwide immediately after, The American Nurse is an important contribution to America's ongoing conversation about what it means to care.

Proceeds from the book and film support scholarships provided by the American Nurses Foundation.

About the American Nurses Foundation
The American Nurses Foundation (www.givetonursing.org) is the charitable and philanthropic arm of the American Nurses Association (ANA), the only full-service professional organization representing the interests of the nation’s 3.1 million registered nurses through its constituent and state nurses associations and its organizational affiliates. The Foundation supports programs that transform the nation’s health through the power of nursing.

About Fresenius Kabi
Fresenius Kabi (www.fresenius-kabi.us) is a global health care company that specializes in medicines and technologies for infusion, transfusion and clinical nutrition. The company’s products and services are used to help care for critically and chronically ill patients. The company’s U.S. headquarters is in Lake Zurich, Illinois.

Contacts
Adam Sachs, 301-628-5034, adam.sachs@ana.org
Matt Kuhn, 847-550-5751, matt.kuhn@fresenius-kabi.com
Adam Segal, 202-422-4673, adam@the2050group.com