We LOVE Nurses!

It’s National Nurse Appreciation Week and Sunways is thrilled to make a huge shout to all the nurses who work tirelessly to keep our communities safe and well. This week allows us to thank the nurses in our lives, and to recognize the nursing community as a whole. This year marks the 202nd celebration of the nursing profession, and the theme is “Nurses Make a Difference”. This theme acknowledges the rapidly changing roles nurses have taken on in the past few years, especially working on the front lines of the COVID19 pandemic. Our society has asked nurses to make tremendous sacrifices to help those in need. One positive takeaway from the pandemic is our understanding of the necessity of these skilled professionals. 

Nurses drive patient safety and healing. They spend more time with their patients than any other healthcare professional. Nurses are responsible for keeping up-to-date medical records, administering medications, and talking patients through treatment plans. Doctors are often rushed, and nurses are tremendous advocates for their patients and families. For all of these reasons, and many more, we need to help nurses remain emotionally engaged in their work! 

5 Simple Ways You Can Show a Nurse You Appreciate All They Do:

1. Send Letters of Appreciation and Thank You Cards! This is a big one! Handwritten notes can often make someone’s day!
2. Make Recognition Posts on Social Media. Honor the nurse you love in your social communities, you can even reshare this article (links at the top) and tag a nurse –This will also remind your friends in the community to reach out to other nurses they know and love.
3. Send a Gift Card. Starbucks or other coffee shops are a great idea for helping nurses get the caffeine boost they need for long shifts. Look into restaurants or coffee shops located at facilities where your favorite nurses work.
4. Make a Care Package. Nurses can never have enough compression socks (these are often more expensive than we realize, and nurses are on their feet for almost their entire shift), healthy snacks, hand sanitizer, hand creams, mental health self-guided journals (Amazon has some great options), coffee mugs, etc.
5. Deliver a meal. Most of us can agree that after a busy day, cooking is not something we look forward to. A homemade casserole or any dish is a great way to thank a nurse and their family for their work.

These gestures are inexpensive and remind nurses how valuable they are. Please consider making a nurse’s day this week! Boosting morale among nurses can even lead to a better environment for healing, and ultimately a healthier and happier society as a whole. To all the nurses out there, we are so thankful for all that you do! YOU ROCK!

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