By DWD CEO Barb Clapp
During National Nurses Week, we pause to thank the nurses who care for us during our most vulnerable moments. These highly skilled professionals carry immense responsibility and are vital to holding our healthcare system together. But appreciation alone won’t ease the workforce strain impacting care across Baltimore and throughout Maryland.
If we want to truly honor nurses, we must look beyond individual roles and address the broader system that supports them — or too often, strains them.
Behind every nurse is a complex healthcare workforce ecosystem: certified nursing assistants (CNAs), medical assistants, technicians, educators, clinical supervisors and support staff who keep hospitals, clinics and long‑term care facilities functioning. When that ecosystem is under pressure, nurses feel it first, through staffing shortages and less time to focus on patient care — the very conditions fueling burnout and pushing talented professionals out of the field.
At Dwyer Workforce Development (DWD), our mission is to strengthen healthcare by building the workforce pipeline, starting with CNAs. We do this through partnerships with local colleges, training providers, healthcare employers and community organizations working together to prepare talent for real‑world care settings and connect them to sustainable careers.
Read the full op-ed in The Baltimore Sun.