The last 13 months have been tough for everyone. They鈥檝e been tougher if you鈥檙e a first responder. Tougher still if you鈥檙e a nurse 鈥� no one has shouldered more responsibility in the struggle with COVID-19.

This year, May 10 to 16 is National Nursing Week, the week closest to the May 12 birthday of Florence Nightingale.

(In 1971, the International Council of Nurses designated May 12 as International Nurses Day.)

It鈥檚 a time to consider the roles nurses and nursing care plays in all our lives 鈥� there鈥檚 almost no one who won鈥檛 be helped by a nurse in their lifetime.

Nurses are there for the first breath many of us take, ensuring health and safety alongside doctors and midwives. And they鈥檙e there at the end, in long-term care, hospice, and hospital wards, whether it鈥檚 working to save lives or simply to ease pain at the end.

The pandemic has brought into stark focus the work nurses do. We know, if we think of it, that it is hard work, skilled work, and often emotionally taxing work.

It鈥檚 also work that often goes unremarked. When we鈥檙e in the hospital, or a loved one is ill, we remember how much the nurses are doing, and we鈥檙e grateful, but in between those moments of family crisis, it鈥檚 easy to forget.

The coronavirus has made it impossible to forget our nurses.

鈥淭his global COVID-19 pandemic has shown the world the important role that nurses play in keeping people healthy across the lifespan,鈥� noted Annette Kennedy, president of the International Council of Nurses.

We鈥檙e still in our third wave here in B.C., and while we have hopes of returning to something like normal soon, none of us who have lived through this pandemic year will ever forget the contribution made by all our medical workers, particularly the nurses 鈥� the ones who鈥檝e been at the front of the frontlines through it all.

鈥� Black Press