Celebrating National Nurses Week

Did you know that nurses are more at risk to sustain a back injury on a shift than a construction worker? Or that during an average 12-hour shift, a nurse can walk for 4 miles or longer? These active and caring professionals give it their all each and every day, so we’re taking a week to express our thanks!

Nursing is the largest healthcare profession in the United States, with an impressive 4.2 million registered nurses employed across the country. Many times, the first and last person a patient sees during a hospital stay is a nurse.  There aren’t enough ways to say thank you.

According to the American Nurses Association, each year National Nurses Week starts on May 6th and wraps up on May 12th, which is also the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.   The heart of the medical profession, nurses are instrumental in coordinating and providing patient care, educating the public about health conditions and giving empathetic and emotional support for patients and their loved ones.  An average day for a nurse can include administering medication, recording detailed medical history for patients, conducting medical examinations, monitoring heart rate, blood pressure and other vitals, performing diagnostic testing, drawing blood and admitting or discharging patients in accordance with physician orders.