Right now, nurse heroes are being recognized across the globe. 2020 is the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife in honor of the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birthday. However, I can’t help but wonder if someone knew that nurses would be challenged more this year than ever before in our history. Nurses are being put to the test. The COVID-19 pandemic has proved to the world what we already know; that nursing is a calling – not a job.
Right now in the news and on social media, nurses are being honored as heroes. The hashtags #healthcareheroes, #yearofthenurse, #nursessavelives, are everywhere! While the rest of the world is complaining about how bored they are, nurses are putting their lives and the lives of their family’s at risk.
Nurses don’t think they are heroes
However, if you ask nurses about their hero status, many don’t acknowledge themselves as heroes. Nurses say things like, “Nah. I’m just doing my job.” Nurses don’t always view themselves as nurse heroes but they are.
Nurse heroes, after all, run INTO the corona war zone while other people are running OUT.
However, running INTO the building day after day; week after week; month after month is exhausting. On the last day of Nurses’ Week, Florence Nightingale’s actual birthday, we need to inspire nurses to continue the fight – continue running into the war zone – continue stepping up as heroes to save mankind.
27 Quotes to Give Nurses the Strength to Continue Fighting the Battle
- “How very little can be done under the spirit of fear.” ~ Florence Nightingale
- “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” ~ Plato
- “If you’ll not settle for anything less than your best, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in your lives.” ~ Vince Lombardi
- “Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there.” ~ Virginia Burden Tower, American writer
- “When you’re a nurse you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours.“ ~ Author Unknown
- “The only way to do great work is to love the work you do.” ~ Steve Jobs
- “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
- “An optimist is someone who goes after Moby Dick in a rowboat and takes the tartar sauce with him.” ~ Zig Ziglar
- “The sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.” ~ Carl Jung
- “The mighty oak is just a nut that held its ground.” ~ Unknown
- “Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.” ~ Mother Teresa
- “Expect problems and eat them for breakfast.” ~ Alfred A. Montapert
- “What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage!” ~ Cowardly Lion
- “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” ~ Zig Ziglar
- “If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance.” ~ Andrea Boydston
- “It’s not what you know or who you know. It’s what you are that finally counts.” ~ Zig Ziglar
- “Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.” ~Mahatma Gandhi
- “What do we live for; if it is not to make life less difficult for each other.” ~ Mary Ann Evans
- “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this something, at whatever cost, must be attained.’’ ~ Marie Curie
- “Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.” ~ Mother Teresa
- “We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” ~ Ronald Reagan
- “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, either way you are right.” ~ Henry Ford
- “Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” ~ Ryunosuke Satoro
- “Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.” ~ Charles F. Kettering
- “To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” ~ Anatole France
- “Nurses deserve to believe they make a difference; because they do!” ~ Renee Thompson
- “Nurses are humans by birth and heroes by choice.” ~ Renee Thompson
This generation will be forever known as THE generation that won the war against COVID-19. Nurses and the entire healthcare team will be forever known as heroes who saved the world.
Thanks so much for choosing to become a nurse!
Happy Nurses Day, Week, Month, and Year!
