National Nursing Week

Celebrating Nurses Week

As UVic School of Nursing faculty, students and graduates, you should be proud of all that you have done and/or will do in your careers. I would encourage you to celebrate National Nurses Week and reflect on all of the contributions our profession makes to society. Providing direct nursing care to individuals, families, and communities is the heart of what we do, but nurses do so much more:

• We serve in leadership, management and administrative roles to ensure that the delivery of high quality nursing care is effective, efficient, and efficacious;
• We develop policies and programs that influence how healthcare is funded, organized, and delivered at the institutional, regional, provincial, national and international levels;
• We conduct research that leads to improvements in nursing practice and client outcomes;
• We teach, mentor, and share our knowledge and experience with others to both prepare new graduates and enhance our nursing care through professional development;
• We advocate and organize to help improve the social and economic conditions that create environments and behaviors detrimental to health.

The fact that nursing continues to be ranked by the public as one of the most trustworthy and valuable professions in Canada speaks volumes to how others see us.  While we are often our own strongest critics, we do this because nurses are constantly striving to do better. Nonetheless, I would urge us all to spend this special week reflecting on our individual and collective accomplishments and basking in the respect and appreciation that the profession so richly deserves.