National Nurses Week Book Display

The Sullivan Family Library's National Nurses Week book display.

May 6th is a special day at the Sullivan Family Library because it is the day we kick off the week-long celebration of National Nurses Week!  Running from May 6th to 12th, this is a special time where we can show our appreciation for the valuable role that nurses play in the American healthcare industry.

This year's Nurses Week theme: 4 Million Reasons to Celebrate

to honor the 4 million registered nurses in America.

Long days and late nights are common to nurses who spend their work hours on their feet caring for and supporting their patients yet they are often the unsung heroes of the medical field. Our librarians have cultivated a special collection of books on nursing and pioneers in the field to help celebrate National Nurses Week and highlight the important role nurses play in healthcare and the prevention of disease.

Portrait of Florence Nightingale, Augustus Egg (1840)

Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons

National Nurses Week culminates with the honoring of Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of modern nursing, whose birth date was May 12, 1820 in Florence, Italy. Born into an upper-middle class and well-connected family, she went against her parent's wishes and enrolled in a 3-month nursing education program in Dusseldorf, Germany because she felt it was her God-chosen profession to become a nurse. Upon completing the program, Nightingale returned to Britain where she worked as a superintendent of a hospital that catered to "gentlewomen". Throughout her career, her policies on record keeping, sanitation, and statistical analysis changed nursing and laid the groundwork for systematic change in the design and practice of nursing today.

For a rare opportunity to listen to an audio recording of Nightingale's voice, check out this YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax3B4gRQNU4

Please stop by the Sullivan Family Library to see our Nurses Week book display and learn more about this profession! For more information, please go to nationalnursesweek.org.