By Jennifer Price
From May 8 to 12, Women’s College Hospital (WCH) will be celebrating its nurses and honouring their professionalism and dedication to excellence as part of National Nursing Week 2023.
Nursing Week is an annual professional celebration that takes place all across Canada and around the world. Each year, the celebrations fall during the week of May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.
The Canadian Nurses Association continues with the theme of Nurses: Our Nurses. Our Future. This year’s theme speaks to concept of Health as a Human Right and focuses on the need for nurses to become more active and vocal in policy development and implementation. Nurses are the lynchpin of health teams, playing a crucial role in health promotion, disease prevention, treatment and care. They are often the first and sometimes the only health professional that people see and the quality of their initial assessment, care and treatment is vital. They are also part of their local community – sharing its culture, strengths and vulnerabilities – and can shape and deliver effective interventions to meet the needs of patients, families and communities.
At WCH, our nurses quickly and effectively develop and nurture relationships with patients, family members and the other members of our care teams. Nurses are persistent in seeking effective responses to the tasks and challenges they confront. Our nurses work in both traditional and non-traditional roles, a variety of sectors and settings and utilize emerging technology to provide virtual care.
Are you a nurse? Thank you! Thank you for bringing the best of yourself to the mission of partnering for healing and a healthy future. On May 8, and all through Nurses Week, we honor your defining role in health care and express our gratitude and appreciation for what you do so faithfully every day.
WCH will be hosting several events for nurses during the week, including education sessions. All nurses are welcome to attend.
As a thank you, we have created a message of gratitude for our nursing team and invited some of our nurses to share their perspectives.