Should I ignore people who say that every career should have a week dedicated to them?

Nurses General Nursing

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I was actually arguing on Skype with a few family members about this they are Lawyers, Engineers, and Accountants. First they thanked me for my service but then they were like they should have a dedicated week for Accountants, and Lawyers. I think through this pandemic they are getting jealous because healthcare workers are getting so much attention. I am not eager for the attention, in fact as a new Nurse, I just want to learn and get better everyday.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I agree with the above posters.

I especially agree with the person who said that if they want to celebrate their profession, they should get together with other lawyers, engineers, whatevers, and MAKE a celebration. Many careers have "days," but no one is going to make a big deal about it unless they themselves get it started. Who do they think started International Nurses Day? Generous physicians?

The people who are really good at promoting themselves and their profession is teachers. They have ads and awards praising teachers all year long.

And while I'm at it... who do people think provides most of the little gifts, trinkets, etc. that come on Nurses' Week? Most of the time, the money comes out of the Nursing Department budget and the work of acquiring it, distributing it, etc. is done by the nursing middle managers and secretaries. (which may at least partially explain the low cost of the trinkets, etc. Nurses don't have much money in the budget to work with.)

But in all fairness ... my hospital has given us nicer-than-average gifts the past few years.

2 Votes
Specializes in Former NP now Internal medicine PGY-3.

Suprised to see this thread this time of year. Usually these pop up day after thanksgiving when everyone decides to pull it out and have a pissing contest.

TLDR version- who cares

1 Votes
Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.

I hate the dance that occurs every year around Nurse's Week. We are celebrating Nurse's MONTH per the ANA layout of self-care, recognition, professional development, and community involvement. We are promoting webinars, I am going around next week to talk about professional development, and we gave food, snack baskets, and a book to our nurses. Our system decided to push off hospital week until later in the year because we couldn't gather for a picnic, and then told us that any activities for nurses had to be "humble and inclusive". We broke the rules with our book for sure, but everything else was for everyone but we highlighted nursing. So to be honest I don't really feel like we genuinely get to celebrate like I feel we should. And to echo other posters, if they want a celebration they need to create a celebration. I can't imagine many people wanting to celebrate a lawyer though...

1 Votes

Yes, I have the same issue as well. I feel like everybody is getting jealous just because we get more attention, even though it’s just the nature of the job. The other day I was talking to my relative about jobs, and they told me the process that they went through beauty school, how hard it is, and that it was so much harder than nursing school. I was like...okay... haha

1 Votes
Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.
On 5/13/2020 at 7:54 AM, JadedCPN said:

You got Hershey's Kisses?!? Dang. I got nada.

Ditto. Nothing new..

1 Votes
Specializes in Pediatrics, NICU.
On 5/13/2020 at 7:54 AM, JadedCPN said:

You got Hershey's Kisses?!? Dang. I got nada.

I got 2 oreos !! LOL

2 Votes
Specializes in Clinical Pediatrics; Maternal-Child Educator.

I have always disliked the concept of nurse's week. When I worked acute care, I always felt like they used the "celebration" to help negate terrible raises and work conditions (short staffed anyone?). Every single "nurse's week gift" I ever received from my employer was basically advertisement for the hospital with their logo on it. I don't think I still have a single one. I would much rather have several options for lunch and learns on some interesting topics. It was always "There are massage sessions going on on X hall." But who has time in the middle of patient care to get a massage? I just felt it really highlighted the disconnect between nursing and administration each year.

We don't really celebrate nurse's week where I work now, but I'm not complaining about it. We get a nice raise at the end of every year and a "Christmas bonus" at Christmas time. Our boss will order 2 - 3 "nurse" design t-shirts throughout the year for all the nurses to have. We get the little advertisements in the mail and pick out the ones we like. I feel appreciated every day so I don't miss the concept of a "nurse's week".

It just further reinforced my feeling that it's used and advertised so much to keep nurse's "happy" and compliant about less than stellar work conditions. ?

2 Votes
Specializes in Emergency Department.
On 5/13/2020 at 2:00 PM, CalicoKitty said:

Kinda like men ask about "Men's Day" on international Women's Day. As if they don't have their own (Nov 19)....

Hey, I never knew that. Is it an American thing?

Oh, and ETA; yes, ignore these people. YOU did not instigate it and from what I hear on this forum very few nurses actually benefit from it so it is just jealousy from them. ?

0 Votes
Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.
20 hours ago, LovingPeds said:

I have always disliked the concept of nurse's week. When I worked acute care, I always felt like they used the "celebration" to help negate terrible raises and work conditions (short staffed anyone?). Every single "nurse's week gift" I ever received from my employer was basically advertisement for the hospital with their logo on it. I don't think I still have a single one. I would much rather have several options for lunch and learns on some interesting topics. It was always "There are massage sessions going on on X hall." But who has time in the middle of patient care to get a massage? I just felt it really highlighted the disconnect between nursing and administration each year.

We don't really celebrate nurse's week where I work now, but I'm not complaining about it. We get a nice raise at the end of every year and a "Christmas bonus" at Christmas time. Our boss will order 2 - 3 "nurse" design t-shirts throughout the year for all the nurses to have. We get the little advertisements in the mail and pick out the ones we like. I feel appreciated every day so I don't miss the concept of a "nurse's week".

It just further reinforced my feeling that it's used and advertised so much to keep nurse's "happy" and compliant about less than stellar work conditions. ?

At the facility of my last travel assignment, the facility gave the nurses fleece jackets (with logo, of course) that they were allowed to wear anywhere EXCEPT on the job. Why? Because it was against the nursing department’s uniform dress code.

2 Votes
Specializes in Cardiology.

I'm not a fan of anything week, even nurses week.

2 Votes
Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.
23 hours ago, LovingPeds said:

I have always disliked the concept of nurse's week. When I worked acute care, I always felt like they used the "celebration" to help negate terrible raises and work conditions (short staffed anyone?). Every single "nurse's week gift" I ever received from my employer was basically advertisement for the hospital with their logo on it. I don't think I still have a single one. I would much rather have several options for lunch and learns on some interesting topics. It was always "There are massage sessions going on on X hall." But who has time in the middle of patient care to get a massage? I just felt it really highlighted the disconnect between nursing and administration each year.

We don't really celebrate nurse's week where I work now, but I'm not complaining about it. We get a nice raise at the end of every year and a "Christmas bonus" at Christmas time. Our boss will order 2 - 3 "nurse" design t-shirts throughout the year for all the nurses to have. We get the little advertisements in the mail and pick out the ones we like. I feel appreciated every day so I don't miss the concept of a "nurse's week".

It just further reinforced my feeling that it's used and advertised so much to keep nurse's "happy" and compliant about less than stellar work conditions. ?

Thank you for this feedback. Part of my role as a Manager of Professional Practice is to organize the Nurse's Week celebrations. Prior to COVID I was planning a day when schools come in to talk about advancing degrees, I was planning a EBP display and education, as well as showing people how to build a CAP (Clinical Advancement) binder. Also bringing back the DAISY Award recognition. I know that trinkets and food are nice for a bit (though currently our hospital is inundated with fatty food donations) but what I really want to bring is substance to the week. I was able to arrange for books, healthy snack baskets, and a couple of webinars. I think the hard thing with Nurse's Week is that in leadership they feel the lack of ability to do something meaningful as well. Don't underestimate how much your leadership feels the pain of staffing, hiring freezes, and system push back on initiatives. It isn't all roses and free COVID tests in the C-Suite. I stand next to them every day and watch them push and pull on each other. The health care system in and of itself is broken, and just as nurses do their best to manage on the floor, the leadership is doing that as well.

2 Votes
Specializes in Clinical Pediatrics; Maternal-Child Educator.
1 hour ago, Tait said:

Thank you for this feedback. Part of my role as a Manager of Professional Practice is to organize the Nurse's Week celebrations. Prior to COVID I was planning a day when schools come in to talk about advancing degrees, I was planning a EBP display and education, as well as showing people how to build a CAP (Clinical Advancement) binder. Also bringing back the DAISY Award recognition. I know that trinkets and food are nice for a bit (though currently our hospital is inundated with fatty food donations) but what I really want to bring is substance to the week. I was able to arrange for books, healthy snack baskets, and a couple of webinars. I think the hard thing with Nurse's Week is that in leadership they feel the lack of ability to do something meaningful as well. Don't underestimate how much your leadership feels the pain of staffing, hiring freezes, and system push back on initiatives. It isn't all roses and free COVID tests in the C-Suite. I stand next to them every day and watch them push and pull on each other. The health care system in and of itself is broken, and just as nurses do their best to manage on the floor, the leadership is doing that as well.

It sounds as if you have made some thoughtful plans for your Nurse's Week. Bringing back the Daisy Award should be most appreciated.

I know that a lot of leaders feel the same frustration that we do. I rarely felt the disconnect with most of my direct managers or even the director of my department. I constantly felt it with the business aspect of it.

For instance, the CEO required that we begin sending critical 11 year olds to the adult ICU rather than transferring to a children's hospital because they were adult weight, could be managed medically in an adult ICU, and we were "losing too much money" to a children's hospital. The ICU physicians and nurses were not used to working with children and on more than one occasion had to call the children's hospital for advice on how to manage the patient they refused to transfer. A prepubescent child or an adolescent going through puberty doesn't always respond to drugs or treatments like an adult and they are not adults in their behaviors or thinking. This was a successful non-profit hospital that spent weeks in orientation going on about how leadership will support you if you do the right thing for your patient.

The CEO who was his predecessor was amazing and very balanced. He wanted the pediatric unit run to the extent that he would feel comfortable bringing his own child there to receive the same care. He extended that same philosophy to every unit in the hospital. He was very successful on both a business and personal level and left to manage a larger sister hospital.

Some leaders are great and really do what is best for all involved. I've worked with many of them in the CEO, CFO, COO, and CNO positions. Others it is almost like it never clicked that the numbers on their spreadsheets represent patient's lives. That's my disconnect with management. Our healthcare system is broken. It became a broken thing the moment we put profit over what was best for our patients. As a nurse, I want to take care of my patients. Keep the trinkets. Help me better take care of my patients.

2 Votes
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