National Nurses Week begins today, May 06, with National Nurses Day, and ends on Tuesday, May 12, Florence Nightingale’s Birthday.
My Aunt was a nurse who up to age 80 kept her nurses license up to date even though she had retired years before, always being “current” so if she did get called back in to ‘help out’ at her old practice she could. It was sad when the next birthday came and she no longer went and got her continuing education hours and on purpose let it lapse! She recognized that chapter had truly been closed and now focused on new hobbies.
Photo shown today (upper left) Attribution: “Red Cross Nurse.” – NARA – 512657″ by Unknown or not provided – U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons. Series: World War I Posters, compiled 1917 – 1919
Included in a Brief History of National Nurses Week it states that in “1954 – “National Nurse Week” was observed from October 11 – 16. The year of the observance marked the 100th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s mission to Crimea…”
In writing today’s blog I came across a site with samples of Thank You Letters to write and send nurses during Nurse Appreciation Week – Thank You Notes To Nurse. It also includes Nurse Appreciation Ideas.
There is a movie from 2000, Nurse Betty, that I’m sure you have already seen, but wanted to mention. The optimism Renée Zellweger brings to her character who is in shock from witnessing her husband’s murder is perfectly balanced with Morgan Freeman – he has decided early on in the film that Betty is to be elevated even though he is pursuing her. The movie cast includes Greg Kinnear, Chris Rock, Crispin Glover, and Tia Texada making the ensemble nicely done. I prefer to think of this Nurse Betty as the character who in a scene walks up and saves a person in front of the hospital instead of the Nurse Ratched type from the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
For my close friend and other blog readers who are nurses still practicing please know that your ministry of service and caring is appreciated and what a blessing you are to your patients and their families. Thank you!
Anchors Aweigh,
Helen
