The Best Way to Celebrate Nurses Week? A Simple, “Thank You.”

My colleague, Laura Pickett, chief operating officer of IU Health Foundation, personally thanks every nurse she meets. Working for IU Health, that adds up to a lot of nurses. But Laura never falters on her mission of gratitude. She thanks nurses wherever she spots them: in the elevator, the parking garage, the grocery store. She does this because, as she says, nurses are her heroes.

As they should be. During the current crisis, the 9,000 nurses at IU Health have demonstrated their superpowers: working longer shifts, transferring to different units to be where they are needed most, sometimes living apart from their families so they don't take the virus home. And because visitors aren't allowed, nurses often stand in for absent loved ones when patients are scared and in pain.

National Nurses Week starts May 6, the day after #GivingTuesdayNow, the global day of giving and unity on May 5. It ends on May 12 – the birthday of nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale. During this time, we will share nurses' stories and offer you several ways to say, “thank you.”

Based on the response Laura gets when she thanks nurses, they aren't used to even these simple shows of gratitude. As Laura explained in this LinkedIn post, "The most common responses are happily confused gestures of, 'Oh, well, thank you for saying that,' or 'You’re welcome?'" Most nurses would say they are just doing their jobs. 

But we know better. They are heroes. I look forward to celebrating them with you this week. If you are interested in making a gift in honor of the nurses in your life, you may do so by visiting COVID19 Rapid Response Fund.

Pictured Above (from left to right): (first row) IU Health nurses Michelle Edgington, RN; Jessica Korkos, RN; Antonia Mayhew, RN; Kyra Betts, RN; Samantha Roseman, RN; (second row) Jules, Secretary; Amanda Hood, RN