Nursing remains our country’s most trusted profession, and for good reason. Our career path requires a lot of sacrifice, compassion, and, occasionally, genuine heroism. While some nurse heroes already own their space in history (looking at you, Lady with the Lamp), we wanted to highlight some of today’s most inspiring members of our profession.
1. Aoife McGivney may not be anyone you’ve ever heard of, but the Dublin-based bus driver whose life she saved will never forget her. During McGivney’s morning commute, the bus began swerving and McGivney, a nurse, immediately went into action. She manually stopped the bus by moving the driver’s feet off the pedals, safely relocated the driver to the floor so she could perform CPR until emergency services arrived. The Mayor of Dublin gave her a national bravery award for not only saving the driver’s life, but also likely those of the passengers. She couldn’t deserve it any more as far as we’re concerned.
2. Janet Rami RN, PhD isn’t just a the Dean of Southern University (Baton Rouge, LA). She worked tirelessly for displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina to ensure that they received adequate housing, medical supplies, and medical treatment. She paid extra attention to residents of the local FEMA trailer community to make sure that their needs were also addressed.
3. In the early 20th century, some 50 million people died from the Spanish Influenza outbreak. A very brave nurse named Katherine Hannan volunteered to serve U.S. forces overseas during WWI to help save the lives of soldiers who were suffering during the pandemic. She risked her own life by interacting in those wards, treating both battle wounds and tending to soldiers who were clinging to life due to infection.
4. While you probably don’t recognize the name Allyn Pierce, you probably would recognize the images of his burnt Toyota truck that went viral on the internet after wildfires ripped through Central and Northern California during the summer of 2018. He risked his own life to evacuate people from his ICU, working quickly to relocate the most vulnerable of patients as the flames got closer and closer to the hospital. Even as his town of Paradise (completely lost due to those flames) burned, he continued to drive people away from danger.
5. David Mazzoli, nursing student by day, hero by night. Driving home, he saw a man slumped over on a park bench in his native Orlando. His instincts kicked in and he pulled over to see if he could help. The man was having an apparent overdose. Mazzoli’s solution? An old nursing trick. “I dug my knuckle into his chest,” Mazzoli said. “That’s pretty painful when you got a big boy like me doing that to you.”
Nurses do amazing things big and small every day. Even if those stories don’t make the headlines, they will forever change the lives of the patients and people you interact with. If you’re ready to embark on this life-changing path, contact us today.
