Four ways to honor VA nurses during National Nurses Month

VA celebrates National Nurses Month throughout May to honor nursing contributions to the VA health care system. VA will highlight the role nurses play as clinicians and leaders who make a difference in the lives of Veterans every day. 

This year’s motto, “VA Nurses Make a Difference,” expresses the gratitude and respect nurses have earned for their exceptional care. Nurses deserve to be honored and celebrated for all they do, especially with the challenges of a prolonged pandemic. VA nurses nationwide are meeting the moment for Veterans, their families and caregivers.

Key topics

Each week during National Nurses Month 2023, VA will focus on key topics, including:

• Self-care
• Nurse recognition
• Professional development 
• Community engagement

Do you know a VA nurse who is going above and beyond their call of duty? National Nurses Month is your chance to spread the word about their dedication and commitment.

Honoring selfless service

Here are four ways you can honor and thank a nurse during May 2023, Nurses Month:

1. Show gratitude

May is the perfect time to do something special for the nurses in your life. Small gestures of recognition can make a significant impact, so tip your hat to the next nurse you meet.

If you’ve received care from a nurse, work with a nurse or your loved one works in nursing, you can simply express your gratitude through recognition. Thank you notes or a simple phone call or text could make a nurse feel appreciated. The simplest  “thank you” can make all the difference.

2. Spread the word

Take time during May to honor VA nurses for their commitment and dedication to Veterans and the communities they serve.

Take to social media to publicly thank your special nurse or all nurses during the month of May. Encourage others to do the same. Follow your Veterans Affairs Medical Center’s social channels and like and share any posts made acknowledging nurses. You can also follow the official Veterans Health Administration accounts on Facebook and Twitter to do the same.

3. Understand what it’s like to be a nurse

Put yourself in a nurse’s shoes during May by reading or listening to audiobooks about the lives of nurses to better understand the unique challenges they face and why they choose to commit themselves to care for others. Here are a few suggestions:

• “The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives” by Theresa Brown. Practicing nurse and New York Times columnist Theresa Brown invites us to experience not just a day in the life of a nurse, but all the life that happens in just one day on a busy teaching hospital’s cancer ward.
• “In the Midst of Life” by Jennifer Worth. By the author of “Call the Midwife,” Worth documents her experiences as a nurse and ward sister, treating patients who were nearing the end of their lives.
• “And If I Perish: Frontline U.S. Army Nurses in World War II” by Evelyn Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee. In World War II, 59,000 women voluntarily risked their lives for their country as U.S. Army nurses. They rose to the demands of war on the frontlines with grit, humor and great heroism.
• “Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not” by Florence Nightingale. First published in 1859, Nightingale wrote the book to give hints on nursing to those entrusted with the health of others.
• “Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands” by Mary Seacole. Written in 1857, this autobiography is of Mary Seacole, a Jamaican woman whose fame rivaled Florence Nightingale’s during the Crimean War.
• “Drum Taps” by Walt Whitman. A collection of poetry and an historical war novel written by Walt Whitman while he served as a battlefield nurse during the Civil War. 
• “The Wonder” by Emma Donoghue. Now a Netflix film, this fictional story tells the tale of a nurse who is brought to a small Irish village to observe that appears to be a miracle—a girl said to have survived without food for months—and soon finds herself fighting to save the child’s life.

4. Nominate a VA nurse

Did a special nurse care for you in a way you want to acknowledge? Invest a few minutes in nominating them for a Daisy Award®. Contact the VA facility where your nurse is employed to learn about the nomination process for this special award, which recognizes exceptional nurses for their compassionate care. 

For more information on National Nurses Month, go to the Nurses Month webpage.

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To read more stories on VA nurses, visit VA News and Information.