Celebrating Nurses Week

May 6-12 is National Nurses Week. We wanted to celebrate nurses who are leading the charge for health, wellness, and patient care. One of our VisualDx champions wanted to share how nurses have shaped her medical career path. She shared her thoughts with us.

Happy Nurses Week!

It is impossible to overemphasize the power and generosity of nurses. The profession requires compassion, kindness, and hard work. It is not only patients who depend on nurses; students, residents, and attending physicians rely on them too – for education, to help navigate the complexities of the health care system, and to help manage the intricacies of patient care. Nurses wear many hats. They also often serve as personal counselors, therapists, and life coaches to their patients and colleagues. Here are some examples from my own experience.

When I first began to pursue my interests in applying to medical school, it was my dermatologist who threw me in the trenches with her nurse. The experience was invaluable. I learned that compression stockings and comfy shoes are a must, and so are flexible clothing items. There is bending, twisting, heavy lifting, and sprinting behind the scenes. But there is love, support, and tenderheartedness that is front and center.

I’ll also never forget my first week of intern year. It was the nurses on the inpatient ward in the middle of the night who talked the cases out with me, helped me put in orders, and gave me feedback. It was the nurses at the VA clinic who helped monitor and navigate the system to ensure patients got taken care of. It was the nurses at the charity clinic who helped change the bandages of the homeless. It was the nurses at the academic institutions who helped their residents make strides.

Nurses are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, and friends. We don’t say it enough, but I want to give you a sincere thank you for all that you do. Thank you, thank you, thank you.