What started as a semester project for a group of graduate nursing students at George Mason University in Fairfax, just might turn out to be a best-selling children’s book and an effective tool in battling the nursing shortage.

Do You Know a Nurse? is a colorful book targeted to discriminating young readers. Written mostly in rhyme with accompanying illustrations, the book depicts various forms of nursing — from a scientist in a lab, to a nurse hanging out of a helicopter like those in the military and rescue work, to the more traditional settings of a classroom, hospital and doctor’s office. With the U.S. Capitol as a backdrop, one of the nurses is shown shaking hands with the President of the United States in her work to influence public policy.

Although the writing is simple and the childlike illustrations are basic, the underlying message of this book is clear: being a nurse is much more than the clichéd depiction of the woman in a white uniform emptying bed pans.

"We want kids to know that we may do ‘yucky’ things, but there is more to it than meets the eye," said Cecile Davis, a cardiopulmonary rehabilitation nurse at Virginia Hospital Center. "We are more than just at the bedside."

When people, young and old realize this, the hope is that more people will choose nursing as a career.

The current nursing shortage is only going to worsen in coming years as the general population ages and requires more medical attention, and as simultaneously, the average age of nurses rises as they prepare for retirement. Two years ago, the average age of a registered nurse was 43.3, and projections indicate that in six years, some 40 percent of RNs will be over 50.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing web page displays several study results that indicate enrollment in nursing schools is not keeping up with projected demands and a shortage of nursing faculty adds to the problem.

All of this becomes personal when statistics like those released by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) show "a shortage of nurses in America’s hospitals is putting patients’ lives in danger." They found that from 1996-02 low staffing levels were a contributing factor in 24 percent of patient deaths and injuries.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, registered nurses make up the largest healthcare occupation — with more than 2.3 million jobs — and nursing employment opportunities will grow faster than any other occupation through the year 2012.

The team of 21 graduate nursing students at George Mason University — with a mix of nationalities, some from Spain, Sierra Leone and Saudi Arabia — hope to influence the next generation. Each student contributed an idea and prose for a page. As varied as their backgrounds are, the students worked together to research, write, market and fund this "sustainable project." The objective was that their project would have an impact long after the students have gone their way — some will return to their homelands, and some have emigrated here. Their specialties range from bio-terrorism, trauma and emergency room work, parish nursing, and geriatrics, like Davis.

A Catholic mother of three and a member of St. Mark Parish in Vienna, Davis said that even though her fellow students are all of different faiths, they take faith very seriously.

"When people are sick, that is when faith comes to a crisis," she said. "Even if they have no faith, illness brings them to a point that they are looking for something."

"Sometimes patients feel they can’t tell their families some things, but they can tell their nurses."

Davis wrote the page on faith. It reads: "Nurses are of many different faiths. They pray to God in all kinds of ways." The illustrations show a Jewish nurse and a Christian nurse, as well as a Muslim in front of a mosque and a Hindi woman dressed in a sari. As the team met to hash out what would be included, there were no objections to the page on faith.

The illustrations were done by Elizabeth Di Salvo, an artist in Madison, Wis., and the book was designed by Stacy Driscoll, a graphic designer in south Florida.

Proceeds from book sales will go to George Mason University’s College of Nursing and Health Science Fund, which allows nursing students to work with "underserved populations" in the United States and abroad. The authors hope to have the book translated into multiple languages.

After reading the book, one of the diocesan elementary school principals thinks a copy should be added to the library of each of the 35 diocesan elementary schools. Finding a benefactor might be the only hitch for that goal.

With a mix of humor and description, a page reads: "Nurses are scientists looking for answers to all the things we want to know. They can tell you why you sneeze and why you laugh when I tickle your toe."

And "Nurses are brave and courageous. They can take care of me even when Mom says I’m contagious."

Timed to premier during Nurse’s Week, the first week of May, and specifically for Nurse’s Day on May 6, the book is dedicated to "the children who will be the future nurses of the world."

As the last page of the book reads, "Nursing is exciting, challenging and fun. I hope you’ve decided that one day you will be one."