Unsung Heroes: Celebrating Our Nurses
Nurses often provide care in the background, and quietly, without much notice. However, nurses are the backbone of our healthcare system and, without them, we would not receive such a high level of care as we do. In recent years, nurses are starting to get the attention they deserve with National Nurses Day and National Nurses Week.
Both of these celebrations coincide simultaneously at the same time each year. National Nurses Day is always on May 6th, and it kicks off the start to National Nurses Week and the week-long activities, acknowledgments, guest speakers, and so on, and concludes on May 12th. While awareness about nurses is increased during this time of year, healthcare facilities, hospitals, and communities, in general, can celebrate the accomplishments of their nurses year round!
There are different ways employers can celebrate their nursing staff and increase awareness of their accomplishments within the community. Some of the more common ones include:
- Feature articles in the local newspaper.
- Interviews and stories on local television news stations.
- Taking out an advertisement in local newspapers, magazines, or newsletters.
- Displaying a list of “honor roll” nurses in public areas within your facility.
Other ways employers can show their appreciation for their nurses are through personal gestures like a banquet or luncheon, personalized letters or plaques, or another form of gratitude, such as a bonus, gift, or even a gift certificate.
You can also distinguish your outstanding nursing staff members by providing them with their own special color of nurse uniforms from Prudential Overall Supply. By having their own color of scrubs, everyone on your staff will quickly know who the standout nurses are, and it also helps encourage other nurses to strive for the same level of service these nurses have achieved.
For patients and individuals that want to celebrate a nurse for his or her outstanding service, there are a few different things you can do:
- Write a letter to the healthcare facility manager.
- Inform the local newspaper or television station to see if they are interested in doing a story on how the nurse helped you.
- Share your story online through social media pages.
- Send the nurse a thank-you note.
For nurses who want to increase awareness for what they do, as well as National Nurses Day and National Nurses Week, there are several viable options you could pursue:
- Participate in presentations at schools, chamber of commerce events, city meetings, retirement home seminars, and other events.
- Request that your employer actively participates during the week-long celebration.
- Encourage the creation of mentoring programs at work to help new nurses.
- Host fundraising events in your community and donate the proceeds to a worthy cause or charity.
As you can see, there are many different ways to celebrate nurses and the services they provide our healthcare system. Please feel free to contact Prudential Overall Supply at (800) 767-5536 today for more information about hospital and nurse uniform rentals, leasing, and purchasing options.