One of the nurses even gave us her home phone number in case we needed to chat.

BBC: NEWS | Health | 'We wanted our child's post-mortem'

Given the dangers lurking in hospitals, we asked several nurses to give us their suggestions about what steps to take to protect yourself and your family.

CNN: Nurses offer tips for surviving a hospital stay

And I'm here with my fellow nurses from SEIU. First of all, thank you for listening to us, because as nurses we do listen to our patients all the time.

WHITEHOUSE: Online Town Hall

The doctors did a terrific job, but, frankly, it was the nurses that were there with us when she had to get a spinal tap, and all sorts of things that were just bringing me to tears.

WHITEHOUSE: Online Town Hall

And I want to thank Julie, Barbara, Roland, Stephen, Renee, and Christopher, standing behind me -- physicians, physicians assistants, and nurses who understand how important it is for us to make much needed changes in our health care system.

WHITEHOUSE: Moving Forward on Health Care Reform

And most of all, I want to thank all of the nurses and all of the nursing students who are here with us today. (Applause.) Yes, absolutely.

WHITEHOUSE: The White House

"There is good clinical evidence that longer consultations will allow us to do that, but if we are to meet all the targets the government is setting us we need far more GPs, and more nurses, " he added.

BBC: GP consultation

This is enabling us to recruit 20, 000 more doctors, 68, 000 more nurses and 26, 000 more therapy, scientific and technical staff.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Politics | Full text: Blair on public services

And the more we're emphasizing primary care, preventive care, wellness -- all of which will save us money in the long term -- the more that we can deploy nurses as the troops on the front lines in ultimately driving down some of these health care costs.

WHITEHOUSE: Online Town Hall