Nurses Bring Courage, Resilience and Heart to Healthcare
Honoring nurses during National Nurses Week: May 6 – 12
Gilchrist Chief Clinical Officer
From the time Florence Nightingale established St. Thomas’ Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses in 1860, the world has relied upon nurses to be healthcare leaders and provide compassionate bedside care.
The last year has tested the emotional, physical and mental stamina of nurses nationally as we’ve fought the COVID-19 virus. What’s become very clear looking back is the resilience, courage and sheer heart nurses bring to our healthcare environment each day. Year after year, we see nursing named one of the most trustworthy professions in the U.S., and 2020 was no exception.
One year later, our nurses are continuing to demonstrate unmatched dedication, resilience, courage and compassionate care. The images of nurses holding up signs for family members on the street, unable to visit their loved ones, will be in the history books forever.
Throughout the pandemic, Gilchrist nurses were at the bedside advocating for end-of-life visitation, listening to distressed patients and families and soothing end-of-life symptoms. While the last year has changed so many things in healthcare, the level of dedication, commitment and humanity our nurses bring to the bedside has never wavered.
Each day, we are blessed by our nurses and all they give to our patients and their families. Gilchrist nurses, working side by side with all members of the interdisciplinary team, are leaders. They lead difficult but critical end-of-life conversations. They provide eyes, ears and assessment skills for our providers as they see patients wherever they call home.
As primary advocates for our patients and their families, they lead with grace and compassion, and critically think through complicated situations each day. Our nurses are educators and advocates, but it’s also important to remind ourselves that they are human.
We are grateful to our brave nurses for their commitments to patients, their families and our organization. This past year has tested our nurses time and time again, yet they remain dedicated, resilient and beyond brave.
As we close Nurses Week 2021, we hope each of you will take the time to thank our nurses for their service. We are blessed, humbled and honored by the sacrifices of our amazing nurses and all they’ve done to serve in the past year. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
To learn more about Gilchrist, visit gilchristcares.org. To support our work, visit gilchristcares.org/give.