Nurses’ Week is celebrated every year in May. It’s scheduled to coincide with the birthday of Florence Nightingale – the founder of modern nursing.

Do you ever wonder what Florence would say if she saw what nursing looked like today?

Ok, so hopefully she wouldn’t say that! But maybe some days she got as frustrated as we do. I get the impression she would have handled the stress better than I do, though… But seriously, we have a lot to thank Florence, and the many other nursing pioneers for. Their contributions to nursing as a profession and to improving patient safety and patient outcomes are invaluable. And nursing really has come a long way and changed over the years.

However, here’s what hasn’t changed:

• Our dedication to caring for our patients.
• Our desire to improve our patient’s condition.
• Our drive to constantly improve this practice we call “nursing.”

So, while we struggle with short staffing, the expectation that we should be able to do more with less, and the constant addition of new “forms and protocols,” at the heart of it all, we still want to see our patients get well and have good outcomes. I hope we would make Florence proud!

As Nurses’ Week draws to a close, let me say THANK YOU to all of you for everything you do each and every day. This job is not easy – it’s often stressful and busy. But you handle it well, and all of your hard work is appreciated. 

And just in case you need a good laugh today, here a few Nurses’ Week memes from around the internet and my Facebook page/ Instagram. Enjoy!

And last of all, because I’m really not made up entirely of bitterness and sarcasm, here are some happy thoughts for all of you. Maybe a few of these will be true for you today!

Happy Nurses’ Week!

Melanie