All of us can think of a nurse who cured us. It’s time to thank them.
Nurses Week starts May 6 and stretches through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale. At the Erie Times-News, we have a wonderful and emotional salute to nurses that runs in print Friday, May 4. It is written by regional nurses and features a warm tribute by Marnie Mead Oberle.
National Nurses Week took decades to become sanctioned, according to the American Nurses Association. In 1953, Dorothy Sutherland of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare proposed Nurses Day to President Eisenhower. A year later, National Nurse Week kicked off from October 11 – 16 celebrating the 100th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s international mission. In 1965, the International Council of Nurses celebrated “International Nurse Day” on Nightingale’s birthday.
In 1974, a week in February became National Nurse Week, thanks to President Nixon. Four years later, May 6 became “Nurses Day” in New Jersey. In 1982, May 6, became “National Recognition Day for Nurses.”
In the 1990s, the week received a permanent recognition. Hug a nurse today! And catch the great stories in the Erie Times-News May 4. Thanks to all the nurses out there.
Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.
