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Today marks National Nurses Day, the start of a week-long event honoring nurses throughout America for their dedication and compassion.

That seems fitting in today’s situation, as we grapple with the impact of COVID-19 on our community, our nation and our world. Nurses are at the front lines of health care – from emergency rooms to nursing homes to medical clinics – and they are critical to the health of our nation.

National Nurses Week begins each year on May 6th and ends on May 12th, Florence Nightingale’s birthday. Nightingale is considered the genesis of the modern nursing profession.

Nightingale, an English nurse in the 1800s, was known as the “Lady with the Lamp.” She was a statistician and social reformer who founded the practices used in modern nursing. She tended patients in the Crimean War and later founded St. Thomas’ Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses.

Today, more than 4 million nurses carry on that tradition in America. They are, according to a recent Gallup poll, the most honest and ethical profession in America.. And the come from all walks of life, all ages, all socioeconomic backgrounds:

• The average age of surveyed registered nurses is 51 years (NCSBN).

• 9% of nurses are male, versus 2% in 1970 (NCSBN).

• Nurses from minority backgrounds are growing in number (HRSA):

• 9.9% are black or African-American 

• 8.3% are Hispanic or Latino 

•Nursing jobs are growing faster-than-average at 12% by 2028 (BLS).

• The nursing field can anticipate more than 371,000 potential new job openings in the future (BLS).

• RNs showed an increase in median annual income between 2017 and 2019 from $63,000 to $73,300 (NCSBN & BLS).

• The median salary of nurse practitioners is over $109,000 per year (BLS).

• 80% of nurses are satisfied with their current jobs (ANT).

Nurses are trusted greatly because they serve as both confidantes and liaisons between doctors and family members. This level of professional respect, combined with the fact that nurses have dedicated their lives to helping others, make the profession difficult to surpass in integrity, especially in today’s COVID-19 climate. 

So join us today in saying thank you to our nurses throughout Pike County, for caring for us today and every day with grace, compassion and confidence.