Our Favorite National Nurses Week 2018 Stories
If you’re unfamiliar with the week that recognizes the uniformly remarkable contributions that nurses make to our society and our culture: it all started in 1954 in recognition, and on the 100th anniversary, of Florence Nightingale’s historic trip to Crimea during a brutal and deadly war. Every year, National Nurses Week culminates on her birthday, and increasingly it provides employers and communities opportunities to thank members of the country’s most trusted profession.
Nothing Says “Thank You” Like Discounts
Every year, restaurants and retailers offer special offers and freebies to nurses. From Chipotle’s BOGO day to Haagen-Dazz free cone day, nurses have plenty to eat and drink on the house. Local spots always get in on the celebrations, too, so make sure to keep an eye out in your social media feeds or the local paper for eateries and stores that want to extend their generosity and gratitude.
Local Honorees (We Call Them Heroes)
Raphael Ferro has worked as an ICU nurse for 12 years at Wyoming Valley Medical Center. In response to her being featured in her local paper for National Nurses Week, she said: “You see your patients on one of the worst days of their lives, coming into the ICU. It’s rewarding to see patients go home.”
A local Philadelphia morning show surprised nurses at St. Christian Hospital for Children to give the city a chance to thank them for their sacrifices. Career nurse of 30 years, Claire Alminde praised her fellow children’s nurses: “Nurses are the ones that give the cuddles and hugs and love, and when parents aren’t here, the nurses stay with the patients. So, I think that’s the big difference.”
A small town in south Texas honored their local nurses with a candlelight ceremony to provide a relatively somber but reflective moment to meditate on the tough year local nurses had just experienced, and inspiring each other for the year to come.
What We Can All Do Throughout the Year
Nurses are fortunate to work in a profession where they are recognized so generously and consistently with a federally-recognized annual event. For the nurses near us, whether they are our co-workers, family members, spouses, siblings, neighbors, or fellow students: please take a little bit of extra time every day to thank them. Doctors may have more training and are of crucial importance in a patient’s health, treatment, and recovery: nurses are the caretakers, with more hands-on patient time, and substantiate the frontline of all inpatient care.
As more and more millennials train to become nurses, and as more senior nurses pass the torch to their younger colleagues: let’s honor the spirit of National Nurses Week throughout the year and show our gratitude and appreciation for a profession that has been saving lives for well over a century.
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