Do you know a nurse or someone who is a nursing major? Maybe you are a nurse who is just starting out or has been doing this for, let’s just say, a long time.
May 6th is National Nurses Day and going to a school like Winona, where it’s hard to “throw a rock” and not hit a nursing major, makes this day important to many of our classmates who we could see as our nurses in the future. This day is also meaningful to the nurses who are already working and doing a job that they love and are passionate about.
A day in the life of a nurse can be a chaotic one. Take the time someday to sit and listen to what a nurse’s day is like. After hearing the person tell you about their day, you will be thankful for all the hard work they do. Whether they work in a hospital running around the building all day, working out of people’s homes where they have to traverse through all kinds of weather and obstacles to get to their patients or whatever else they may do, you know that they are giving it their all to take care of others. They work endlessly to make sure that their patients’ needs are met and that their patients are content because they take pride in their work and they do not want to disappoint anyone. After a lengthy day at work, they put in long hours into this thing called charting (which is something that I know they all love to do… or not) And if they are lucky enough, they are on-call, which can mean long days running into even longer nights.
Nurses learn what hard work is right away when they are in school. They have to get all their classes in, obtain an acceptable GPA, and other things before they can even apply for the program. After they get into the program they have to maintain a certain GPA, take some of the hardest classes, do clinicals, study a lot and so much more. But nurses know that hard work pays off, so they are willing to do all this in college so that they can have a promising career doing a job that is fulfilling to them.
So today call (not text, Facebook message or anything that involves writing using technology) a nurse you know. This maybe a family member, a friend, a coworker, or whoever. The nurse(s) in your life will appreciate that you are thinking of them and taking time out of your day to tell them that.
Lastly, I want to thank my mom. She attended WSU “back in the day” and loves the career that she has because of what WSU has taught her.
(Don’t worry – I will call her and tell her “thanks” as soon as she gets done with work today.)
So Happy National Nurses Day to all the future and current nurses out there – you deserve this kind of recognition for all that you do!