"NurseStrong is setting aside your personal battles to give your absolute best to your patients entrusted to you."
With Nurses Week coming up, it is then so timely to look back what the past year has made us and become who we are today.
For the past Nurses Week, I've reached out and featured these few amazing nurses. So let's revisit and find out what #NurseStrong means for us!
#NurseStrong took on even more meaning this last year during the pandemic. We were fighting a literal battle between life and death each and every day. Being on the frontlines as a new ER nurse was both an honor and a challenge but without a doubt I can say I was forged in fire. I’m proud to be #NurseStrong, today and everyday."
Dara, BSN, RN, CCRN (📍Florida)
"In almost a decade of being a nurse I have truly got to see what being #NurseStrong really means. It means being able to wake up with my own life's’ troubles, dilemmas, and issues and still be there for others. It means being capable of leaving my own sh** at the door and being there for people who at the moment can’t be there for themselves.
I love what I do, and just like everyone else, I have days I wake up and don’t feel like doing anything else but silencing my alarm and staying in bed, but then I remember that I am not only a nurse... I am #NurseStrong."
Connie, RN, BSN (📍Washington)
"NurseStrong is setting aside your personal battles to give your absolute best to the patients entrusted to you. To soldier on and hustle despite the struggle to keep yourself afloat in the long shifts. It is selfless and real."
Terry, RN (📍 California)
"I have been a nurse for over 20 years, most of my experience in ED/Trauma. I have always loved the way our team of nurses works together like a well oiled machine. It’s almost like we don’t need to ask what we need help with, we are always there to do what needs to be done.
During the last few years, we have come together even more to support one another. I believe that as an experienced nurse, we need to nurture the new nurses coming into this field so they can benefit from our knowledge and experience. No one does this job alone and that is what #NURSESTRONG means to me."
"NurseStrong means being able to wake up with my own life's troubles, dilemmas, and issues and still be there for others."
Lei, RN, BSN, CMSRN (📍Tennessee)
NurseStrong; simple but powerful words. It is the incomparable strength of a nurse fueled by resilience, strength and heart.
It is RESILIENCE. NurseStrong is being flexible and resilient to different kinds of changes in our lives either personally and professionally. It's the ability to adapt in the face of adversity and the skill to bounce back after any tough times.
It is STRENGTH. #NurseStrong means the strength to go on and move forward because in reality, Nursing is not easy and glitters at all. It may be saying yes to that extra shift to help out your short-staffed unit but then also making sure to rest and recharge the week after. It's all about the mindset that our profession doesn't get any easier, we just get stronger.
It is HEART. #NurseStrong is heart and compassion. Nursing is a work of heart. The very act of nursing calls for compassion, which is a gift of the heart. As I've said, I’ve witnessed and felt firsthand how for the past year nurses have gone from healthcare heroes to exhausted workers but still be able to wield this tough times with both grace and grit.
Thank you Nurses for you and for all you do. Thank you for being the #NurseStrong that you are.