Happy Nursing Week – Remember Why You Became A Nurse?

I became a nurse later in life. I was looking for a way to support our growing family with a career that also matched my love for people. Life can make you calloused and when I travelled to cities like New York, I saw people stepping over and even being rude to the homeless on the street. It really impacted me because I knew that homelessness can happen to anyone at any time. So, I began to search for a way in which I could care for fellow human beings. That’s when I decide to become a nurse.

Nursing is a privilege. Nurses know suffering and still stand by patients despite some work conditions such as low supplies, double-shifts, even nurse abuse by patients and higher-ups. It is not a career for the weak, but it is the most rewarding. A real-life experience that can make you a better and stronger person. Very few careers offer that.

I still have my licence but work as a healthcare consultant now. For those of you still at the bedside, I wish you a wonderful Nursing week and hope that you stay safe and remember to enjoy the reason you became a nurse, even through the most trying shifts.

To care, to serve and to help.

Barrie Quappé, MPA, RN, BSN

Celebrating Nurses Week

National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.
Here are several resources for you –

• American Nurses Association’s Resources for National Nurses Week
• National Nurses Week History – An Interactive Timeline
• Florence Nightingale Pledge
• Hear the voice of Florence Nightingale! A rare recording posted on YouTube.
• Interested in becoming a nurse? Visit the American Nurses Association website.
• Interested in becoming a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)? Check this out!