This year, in particular, keep in mind all that those in the field of nursing do for the world.
May 6 to May 12 is National Nurses Week, a week that many of us can relate to, as we each have stories and personal experiences regarding the dedication of nurses. A nurse myself, I first obtained my LVN license at 19 through the Army. Since, I have worked in skilled rehab, general surgery, telemetry, cardiac stepdown, IMCU, trauma ICU, PACU, PREOP, extended care and the operating room, as well as as a safety officer, director of nursing (ASC), nurse administrator (ASC), ASC developer and consultant. Nursing has taken me to places and offered me the opportunity to meet and help people that I could never have imagined.
When sitting down to write my thoughts on Nurses Week 2021, I first thought about the year the world has had since the beginning of 2020, with memories of nurses donned in trash bags and with tape over their goggles, all while working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. These lead to images of my times in Germany, wrapped in plastic and working under halogen lights with wounded warriors affected by planted bombs in Iraq or Afghanistan. Times like these tend to lead people to the question of “why?”. We try to make sense of our surroundings and, potentially, our new realities, while nurses are focused on the details, pushing aside personal gain and personal impact. This shows sacrifice, determination and one purpose: to save lives.
As we celebrate this week and move, hopefully, closer to the end of this pandemic, let’s remember the sacrifices nurses have made and take a minute to ask how they are doing. Florence Nightingale once said, “I am of certain convinced that the greatest heroes are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs whilst the world whirls as a maddening dreidel.” This quote has always struck me as humbling, in regards to how far the nursing profession has come since Nightingale’s day: from a domestic affair to a profession of strong, unified, fearless heroes. Nurses push forward on the front lines, achieve higher degrees of education, explore lateral ways to apply their knowledge/skills and sacrifice personally to dive into the most important detail — the health and wellness of others — unbiasedly and holistically, every day.
