National Nurses Day

National Nurses Day is Celebrated on 6th May Every Year!

Thursday, 6th May 2021

International Nurses Day is celebrated on 12th May Every Year!

Wednesday, 12th May 2021

When is Nurses Day or Nurses Appreciation Day?

The International Nurses Day or Nurses Appreciation Day can be observed on the 6th of May every year. This day is meant to mark the role played by the nurses in the progress of society.

History of National Nurses Day:

An employee at the United States Department of Health named Dorothy Sutherland sent a letter to President Eisenhower. This was the time of the mid-20th century, around 1953. In the letter, he proposed the idea of a National Nurses Day. It was not made official till that time. People began to celebrate the National Nurses Week without any official proclamation on their own.

The National Nurses Week was made official after 21 years in 1974. In 1981, a resolution started for the declaration of Nurses Day on the 6th of May. The American Nurses Association (ANA) Board of Directors was also in favor of this resolution. The 6th of May was declared National Recognition Day for Nurses in 1982. Later it changed into National Nurses Week by the American Nurses Association (ANA).

The National Nurses Day celebrations have begun since then and are still celebrated with great enthusiasm in various countries across the globe. Each year a theme is decided by the ANA, and the entire celebration revolves around the theme.

How To Celebrate Nurses Day?

Nurses are the central part of any medical team. If a person gets admitted to a hospital, the first person he will see is a nurse. Nurses take care of the patients and provide emotional support, too, in some cases. The role that they play for the betterment of society and the medical system can never be denied. Their hard work and dedication need appreciation. And that’s precisely the main concern on National Nurses Day. If you are looking for some ideas to celebrate National Nurses Day, you are in the right place.

Wear Their Shoes For A Day:

Yes, you have heard it right. The best thing that you can do on this big day is to wear a nurse’s shoes. No, don’t take it literally. You have to be a nurse for a day. This will make you realize all the efforts these nurses put in each day and their responsibilities. If you are a doctor or a part of hospital administration, this task would be easy for you. But keep in mind that you cannot indulge in the activities made for a licensed nurse and without a license. All you can do is to handle tasks like customer service, paperwork, etc.

National Nurses Day Dates:

Happy National Nurses Day Video:

Video by American Association of Nurse Anesthetists

Arrange A Nurses Day Party:

Another exciting thing that can be done on this day is to arrange a Nurses Day Party. You can arrange a party in your hospital and decorate everything keeping that year’s theme in mind. Take the help of assistants, and don’t forget to get the administration involved in this. Arrange the party of all the shifts to honour all the nurses working in your hospital.

Use Social Media To Appreciate Them:

Social Media holds a lot of power these days. A thing once shared on the public platforms catches fire in fractions of seconds. You can use the social media handles and media to promote nurses’ excellent work on their big day. If you do a little bit of research, you will be able to find out a lot of stories about nurses and how they sacrifice a lot of things on a personal and professional level for the sake of the excellent work they do. Please share some information on your social handles with the respective nurse’s permission, and I appreciate them as much as you can.

Hold An Award Ceremony:

Another impressive way of celebrating National Nurses Day is to hold an award ceremony for them. The best thing that one can do for the registered nurses is to appreciate them for their work, and the biggest and best way of appreciation is by giving them an award. Arrange an Award Ceremony at your hospital and honour them with tributes. To add an element of fun to the award ceremony, introduce some funny awards also. For example, you can give someone a prize for the “Most talkative nurse of the year” and many more.

Host A Listening Ceremony For The Nurses:

Have you ever wondered if the nurses working in your hospital are facing some problem or issue? If not, this is the right time to consider this. For this purpose, you can arrange a listening ceremony for them where all the staff members have to share their personal experiences and their problems. This will be a great favor for the staff and the nurses particularly.

Please Give Them A Gift:

This nurses day, appreciate the nurses working with you or any nurse you know by giving them a gift. It can be anything given with respect. Here are some outstanding nurses’ day gift ideas for you. You can gift them an entire spa day or a card. A watch, bouquet, or chocolate box can also be a good idea.

Several other fun and exciting activities can also be done, including an off-site event, a massage day, and much more. Just make sure to keep the spirit of Nurses Day alive and don’t leave any stone unturned to make them feel special on their big day.

Nurses Day Quotes:

Several quotes appreciating nurses and their contributions are exchanged on this day. The Nurses are given several cards and texts where these National Nurses Day Quotes are used. These include:

1. “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest accomplishment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” – Leo Buscaglia
2. “Way back before you were born, God knew there was a need. So God picked your fertile heart and planted a caring seed. Then He waited and He watched. Knowing before too long, the desire in you to help others would continue to grow strong.” – Edwin C. Hofert, The Calling
3. Nurses are the hospitality of the hospital.” – Anonymous
4. “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” — Earl Nightingale
5. “Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made and art, it requires and exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter’s or sculptor’s work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living doby, the temple of God’s spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said the finest of Fine Arts.” Florence Nightingale
6. Remember: nurses are like icebergs. At any one time, you are only seeing what they are actually doing.” – Ian Miller
7. “When you’re a nurse you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours.” – Unknown
8. “If you wait to do everything until you’re sure it’s right, you’ll probably never do much of anything.” – Win Borden
9. “Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for fewer problems, wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenges, wish for more wisdom.” -Earl Shoaf
10. “It’s the new nurses who aren’t scared that worry me”–every nursing instructor ever (and they’re right!)
11. “As a nurse, we have the opportunity to heal the mind, soul, heart, and body of our patients, their families, and ourselves. They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
12. “Panic plays no part in the training of a nurse.” – Elizabeth Kenny
13. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” – Steve Jobs
14. “Nursing school. One syllabus at a time. One class at a time. One exam at a time. One clinical at a time. Keep going…”–unknown
15. “When someone is going through a storm, your silent presence is more powerful than a million empty words.”–unknown

Happy Nurses Day!