By Nicholas Lau and Mariza Liaw

COVID-19 is and has been impacting our lives for about one year now and our frontline workers, including nurses, have dedicated their lives to save our community since day 1. For that, we should thank the nurses for assisting us through this pandemic by celebrating Nursing Week this May 10-16th. 

National Nursing Week has a theme for each year and Canada’s 2021 theme is “#WeAnswerTheCall”. Despite everything that has happened since the beginning of 2020, nurses continue to risk their lives and help those who suffer from COVID-19. By doing so, they always answer your calls to help you as best as they can. 

Nursing Week is in May because the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, is on May 12. Nurses Week is a fairly modern event, with the first official week taking place in the mid to late 1980s. It all started with National Nurses Day being declared on May 12 by the International Council of Nurses in 1971. Later, in 1985, the Canadian Nurses Association began negotiations to have the week of May 12 be recognized annually as National Nurses Week. This was soon declared as the second week of May and the name was changed in 1993 to emphasize the profession’s accomplishments as a discipline. 

Now, that you understand what Nursing Week is all about, here are some tips on how to celebrate this significant week. Number One: you can try spreading the word through social media by posting pictures and stories that create awareness and add #NursingMatters, #NationalNursingWeek, #ND2021, #IKnowANurse, and #WeAnswerTheCall to your caption.  Also when posting them, you should tag @canadanurses or @ontario.nurses. Number Two: you could donate to non-profit nurses, and of course Number Three: you can send notes and gifts to them to make their day! 

This week is about thanking these frontline workers for helping us through these difficult times!

Sources: 

“National Nurses Week Is May 6-12 – Here’s How You Can Celebrate Nurses.” AmNewYork, 4 May 2021, www.amny.com/news/national-nurses-week-is-may-6-12-heres-how-you-can-celebrate-nurses/. 

Mary. “The Origins of Nurses Week.” NurseBuff, 30 Apr. 2020, www.nursebuff.com/nurses-week/.  

“Videos.” Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of BC, www.nnpbc.com/events/nursing-week-2021/.  

“National Nurses Week 2021: a Message of Gratitude to Nurses across HCA Healthcare.” HCA Today, 6 May 2021, https://hcatodayblog.com/2021/05/05/a-letter-of-gratitude-to-nurses-raising-the-bar-across-hca-healthcare/#:~:text=It%20is%20your%20passion%20and,%3A%20A%20Voice%20to%20Lead.%E2%80%9D 

Mustafa, Filiz. “What Is the Theme for National Nurses Week 2021? Quotes and History Explored.” HITC, HITC, 6 May 2021, www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/05/06/national-nurses-week-2021-theme/.  

Tyko, Kelly. “National Nurses Week Brings Free Dunkin’ Coffee, Chipotle Burritos to the Nation’s Most-Trusted Profession.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 6 May 2021, www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2021/05/04/nurses-week-2021-deals-free-chipotle-burrito-dunkin-coffee-discounts/7399290002/.  

National Nursing Week, www.cna-aiic.ca/en/news-room/events/national-nursing-week#:~:text=About%20National%20Nursing%20Week,-The%20week%20draws&text=In%201971%2C%20ICN%20designated%20May,as%20National%20Nurses%20Week%20annually.  

Fee, Elizabeth, and Mary E Garofalo. “Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War.” American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, Sept. 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2920984/#:~:text=In%201954%2C%20under%20the%20authorization,limit%20Russian%20expansion%20into%20Europe.