National Nurses Week is May 6 -12

My first remembered encounter with a nurse was in the office of our family’s pediatrician. It was time for some type of inoculation and I didn’t want to play. Dashing out of the examination room, I eventually reached the waiting room, where I sought refuge under an unoccupied chair. Not a good decision!

With one swoop of her unusually long arms, the nurse encircled my fouryear-old body and extracted me from my hiding place and plopped me on the examining table, where she and my mom tag-teamed holding me down and shooting serum of some sort into my small behind.

The next time I encountered nurses was during the delivery of my sons, both of whom were delivered in Catholic hospitals. For my eldest’s birth, the nurses were all business and not too empathetic. They definitely were not rough but I wouldn’t call them gentle, either. By the time my second son came along, six years later, labor and delivery had definitely changed.

My husband was allowed in the delivery room, we had Lamaze lessons and the nurses didn’t sound like drill sergeants as they guided me through the process of giving birth. I will say a few protocols had disappeared by 1974, like warm sitz baths and heat lamps for any incisions left to heal. However, hospital confinement was down from 7-10 days to 3-4 days.

As it appeared during both of my delivery experiences, the physician delivered the infant and then turned the new mom over to the nurses, all quite equipped and adept for that chore.

Then, 23 years ago, the major Houston newspaper I was writing for asked me to take part in what would become an annual celebration, called “A Salute to Nurses.” My assignment: Interview the men and women nurses, chosen from hundreds of nominations, as that year’s Top 10.

Over the years, more and more colleagues, physicians, patients, families and administrators were sending in nominations, so one blue-ribbon panel narrows the field (numbering in the thousands) to the Top 150 Nurses, and from there, a completely separate panel of nurse administrators, deans of nursing schools and physicians select that year’s Top 15.

From 2000 until this year, I’ve interviewed approximately 255 to-notch nurses, ranging from nursing school instructor, to bedside nurses, research nurses, nurse practitioners, oncology (cancer) nurses, emergency department nurses, operating room nurses, ICU and neonatal ICU nurses, med-surg nurses, school nurses, labor and delivery nurses, paralegal nurses and yes, labor and delivery nurses. I’ve also spoken to congregational nurses, nurses who work on the streets, caring for the homeless and nurses who manage community clinics, working with the underserved.

These nurses are men and women, from new grads to veterans of 45 years. Every one of them love what they do and the opportunity to help others. Every one of them look forward to going to work every day and look forward each day to making a difference in someone’s life…and going the extra mile whenever necessary.

One nurse donated a kidney to a coworker, los ing ground each day to kidney disease. Another collected use wedding gowns to make beautiful burial gowns for stillborn infants and infants born prematurely. Still another arranged a bedside wedding for a cancer patient with only weeks to live and another arranged a prom for severely diabetic teens, providing prom dresses, limos and a dance at Beyonce’s space…and there are so many more selfless stories about nurses giving more than medications, injections and making sure doctors’ orders were followed.

According to the American Nurses Associations, this year’s theme for Nurses’ Week is “You Make a Difference.” They do -- make a difference -- on almost every shift.

Nurses’ week is always selected to encompass May 12th -- Florence Nightingale’s birthday. Florence Nightingale, the Founder of Modern Nursing, also known as “The Lady with the Lamp.”

Florence Nightingale made a difference. So do nurses, whether LVN, RN, Nurse Practitioners, professors of nursing or Nursing Doctorates. They all make a difference… and during Nurses’ Week - or any other week of the year, we salute our nurses and the tremendous jobs they do every day. Thank you!