national nurses week

Once upon a time when she was asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” the only culturally acceptable answers open to a little girl’s dreams were likely nursing and teaching. Celebrating National Nurses Week, May 6-12, reminds me that women today choose among a vast array of professions that would have made Rosie the Rivetor’s head spin wildly.

The word, “choice,” is the key. Today more than ever, women choose whether or not they want to work outside the home and exactly how they will balance career and family responsibilities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 4.8 million currently choose nursing as RNs, LPNs, or Nursing Assistants. Of course, those numbers represent both women and men who have taken that career path.

Many come from families where there is a strong generational line of nurses and other health care professionals. Most choose this direction because of a strong desire to help others achieve optimal physical health knowing they will be called on to cope with human suffering, death and dying, emergencies, and other stresses. By and large, they are caring, sympathetic, responsible, and detail oriented individuals who often, to their own detriment, put the needs of others before their own.

We are indeed honored to have such dedicated individuals working among us for our hospitals, our business and industry employers, and our colleges and universities. Tanner EAP appreciates the opportunity to provide assistance that may, in some small way, help them take better care of themselves so they, in turn, take better care of their patients.