Community
It’s National Nurses Week, when organizations around the country celebrate nurses for their tireless contributions to their communities. Nurses Week 2020 takes on particular importance for two reasons. First, as we face a worldwide pandemic, nurses are on the frontline playing a vital role in treating COVID-19 patients. Also, the World Health Organization has designated 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife to recognize these critical health care professionals and to celebrate the 200th birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.
It’s said that: “Once a nurse, always a nurse.” Here at Mom’s Meals®, we’re very proud that several of our team members who have worked in nursing or worked closely with nurses, are now lending their talents to our organization.
We share their sentiments to honor nurses around the world this week:
“Happy Nurse’s Week. Maybe you are like me and wanted to be a nurse as long as you can remember, maybe you didn’t decide until you were in high school or weren’t able to complete that dream until later in life. No matter how you got to this point, thank you for the sacrifices you make and for putting your life on the line to help others. Nurses are the heart of healthcare. Hospitals couldn’t run without you and your amazing ability to do the impossible. You are the super heroes. People may forget what you say, they may forget your name, but they never forget how you made them feel. You have remained out in the world, exposing yourself to a greater risk of contracting the Coronavirus. Thank you for being a frontline hero. We appreciate you! Stay healthy and safe.“
- Bobbie Casey, Manager of Healthcare Partnerships
“I would like to express my appreciation to all the nurses for their courage, dedication and teamwork they so naturally bring to caring for patients and each other. The day I graduated from nursing school, my sister who is a nurse on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic at UT Southwestern Hospital in Dallas TX, gave me a cross with the words: ‘God bless nurses for they have love to share, compassion to care, and kindness to spare.’ Those words are so true. Thank you, nurses!”
-Mark Waggoner, Manager of Healthcare Partnerships
“Thank you to all nurses past and present. I’ve had the pleasure to work side by side with nurses throughout my career. It has been a wonderful experience to share the same space with individuals who give their all to others each and every day without question. Nurses are caring. Nurses are empathetic. Nurses are intelligent. There are a thousand more adjectives I could write to describe the depth of how wonderful nurses are. Instead, I’ll say ‘thank you.’ We appreciate you. We are grateful for the work you do. Keep up the hard work, you truly are heroes!”
-Melissa Hildebrand, Director of Healthcare Partnerships
"As the COVID-19 pandemic has developed over the past few months, time often feels like it’s slowed to a halt. While I’ve heard this saying many times, it’s never been more apparent that not all heroes wear capes. From a fellow nurse, thank you to all the nurses out there for your tireless efforts and sacrifices.
In the urgency of this difficult time, we have forgotten to appreciate the individuals at the center of it all, our heroic nurses. The nursing profession has always been tasked with caring for the sick and being the leaders of changing modern medicine and health care delivery. Nurses have the enormous privilege of carrying the burden of preserving human dignity amid uncertainty. Nurses meet and care for people when they’re at their most fragile – bringing hope to what, in some cases, may be the worst time of their lives. Nurses are the caregivers, educators, communicators, patient advocates and decision makers. Nurses are the hand-holders, the voice-of-reason, around-the-clock best friend by the bedside, the calming voice, and the familiar face full of compassion.
Ultimately, nurses hold a beautiful paradox: To be able to care for another person during their time of weakness requires a special type of strength and self-sacrifice. Simply put, nurses are often guardian angels. At this moment, our world’s heroes are wearing scrubs. Nurses don’t fight with super powers, they don’t need them. Our superheroes are spending their days and nights fighting an invisible enemy known as the COVID-19 pandemic. Without these heroes, life as we know is seriously threatened.
While some of us have been laid off or asked to work from home for an unknown amount of time, nurses didn’t get that choice. I’d personally like to thank the nurses who ran towards the line of peril as the rest of us retreat into the security of our own homes. Nurses are putting their lives at risk each and every day to keep the world in order. This was not a battle nurses signed up for, but it is one for which they have taken up arms and are fighting nonetheless.
Thank you for choosing to serve and care for those that might be afflicted with the virus, even though the mere act of caring for them may put you and your loved ones at risk. During this unmatched period of time marked with anguish and unease, with what a few have referred to as our generation’s “World War,” thank you for being the helpers and heroes we look to. It is never easy work, and few understand why we do it, but we rush forward, ready and willing to fight another day.
You are all awesome heroes and I’m so honored to share this community of nursing with each of you.”
-Holly Spinks, Senior Director of Strategic Accounts
A heartfelt “thank you” from all of us at Mom’s Meals to all the nurses around the nation for their dedication and compassion. Happy Nurses Week and Happy Year of the Nurse and Midwife!
