As a clinical nurse, May is one of my favorite times of the year, as we celebrate National Nurses Week! And National Nurses Week isn’t the only reason why May is a favorite time for me. The American Nurses Association has expanded National Nurses Week to National Nurses Month! Each May, the national and international communities take a moment to say “thank you” to nurses. Recognition and gratitude are not the reasons why we went into nursing, but it is nice to have a week and a month for others to say “thank you” for the work we do. As we all know, not everyone can do the job of a nurse. We are an interesting group! We can handle many different types of bodily fluids that literally come at us and land on our scrubs or on the floor by our closed-toed shoes (hopefully!). We have an intuition, or gut feeling, when a patient is not quite right, either hemodynamically or emotionally, even if the numbers are all “OK”. We have so many stories of the good, the bad, and the so totally weird. Nurses state “You can’t make this stuff up” many times when starting a story. We can multitask with the best of them, as we keep our patient medications, procedures, tests, and blood draws on time and correct. We do this all while getting to know our patients and their families and creating an impact that will not quickly be forgotten. Nursing is about the art and science of caring for patients. This is what I like to celebrate during National Nurses Week and Month, along with recognizing all of you.

I hope many of you are working in an organization that is taking the time, energy, and thought to say “thank you” this year. I have witnessed all sorts of National Nurses Week and Month gifts throughout my years, as I’m sure many of you can relate. I have received socks, umbrellas, water bottles, T-Shirts, food, gift cards, tote bags, lunch bags, and so on. When I reflect on my most meaningful National Nurses Week gift, it was a handwritten note from my nurse manager I received many years ago. It was a simple thank you note recognizing my work as a charge nurse. To know that someone took the time to say “thank you” and paid attention to the work I was doing was important to me. I hope you get a special gift of gratitude this month and enjoy the thought and energy with which it was intended. After all, it is the thought that counts.

Here is my note of gratitude to you: Your expertise, knowledge, compassion, and patience that you use each day is nothing less than phenomenal. Thank you for all you do for the nursing profession, your patients, your organizations, and your peers.

Take a moment and celebrate your profession, your colleagues, and yourself during National Nurses Week and Month.