Hurray for nurses and nursing techs! They deserve a day, a week, a year!
In my travels as a commercial healthcare photographer, 2020 and 2021 have been very different. Nurses and nursing techs have had a year. If it’s been hard for you, it’s been that much harder on them. Doing their jobs covered in PPE, trying to comfort and have a human connection behind a mask and shield, caring for patients who can’t have visitors. It’s challenging and often exhausting.
Today is Nurse’s Day and the beginning of National Nurse’s Week. The theme for 2021 National Nurse’s Week is “Frontline Warriors”. This is so accurate this year. Armed with compassion, dedication, determination and their PPE, nurses and techs do the hard work we can’t do ourselves.
National Nurse’s Week was first observed in 1954 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s pioneering work in Crimea. Her innovations reduced death rates from 42% to 2%. Things we take for granted like hygiene practices and strict hand washing ushered in modern nursing as we know it today.
National Nurse’s week took a long time to gain traction. The head of the US Department of Health and Education asked for a national proclamation for the 1954 observation, which never came. They tried to get a proclamation from the House of Representatives in 1972, with no success. The White House finally made a proclamation in 1974. As a result, National Nurse’s Day was first recognized in 1982, and the rest is history.
It took several decades, but nurses finally had their day and week. Nurses and techs deserve a year this time around.
Hurray for nurses, techs, and everyone else on the medical floor.
If you’re interested in celebrating the nurses and other professionals in your life, let me know. I’d love to do an editorial style shoot showcasing the work they do.