A Tribute to Nurses: Honoring the Impact of These Healthcare Heroes
Nurses are the heart and soul of healthcare. In the United States, registered nurses (RNs) are the largest component of the healthcare workforce and the leading providers of primary care and long-term care.
This year’s Nurses Month theme, “Nurses Make a Difference,” recognizes their diverse roles and impact. Nurses embody compassion and dedication wherever they practice, from hospitals and homes to universities and the military. They are healthcare heroes who promote and ensure our health and well-being.
Keep reading to explore how nurses make a difference while persevering through distinct professional challenges. You will also learn the importance of recognizing and supporting their efforts and opportunities for nurses to further their influence.
Making a Difference through Diverse Roles in Nursing
The nation has over 5 million RNs who make a difference through varied specialties. The breadth and depth of roles in nursing showcase the far-reaching impact on individuals, communities, populations, and healthcare systems.
Nurses have numerous responsibilities that ensure positive health outcomes, including:
- Direct Patient Care: Since some form of nursing care is part of most healthcare services, many nurses provide direct patient care. They are crucial in promoting health and managing illness in settings ranging from hospitals and clinics to natural disaster areas.
- Advocacy: Nurses advocate for the rights, dignity, and well-being of patients, communities, and populations. They ensure our voices are heard and our needs are addressed, improving patient care delivery and safety.
- Health Promotion and Education: Nurses educate individuals and communities about healthy lifestyle choices and disease prevention. They help people understand health conditions, treatment options, and self-care strategies, empowering them to make positive changes and improve their health.
- Leadership: Every nurse is a leader because of the positive influence they have on their patients’ lives. Some also demonstrate leadership at the organizational level by managing teams, developing policies, and implementing initiatives. Others show their leadership through interdisciplinary collaboration, patient advocacy, and mentorship.
The following are just a few examples of the many roles in nursing. Recognizing their myriad contributions ensures nurses feel valued and inspired to continue making a difference.
Gerontological Nurse
Between 2022 and 2050, the number of Americans ages 65 and older will likely increase by 47%. So, the demand for gerontological nurses is high. Also known as geriatric nurses, gerontological nurses specialize in caring for older adults. They address their unique healthcare needs and improve quality of life through preventive care, health promotion, and chronic disease management.
Military Nurse
Military nurses are healthcare heroes who serve in the U.S. armed forces, providing healthcare to military personnel, veterans, and their families. Many face extraordinary challenges in nursing—traumatic injuries and hazardous working conditions, to name a few. Their dedication and perseverance support the health and well-being of our service members during their military careers and beyond.
Nurse Practitioner
Nurse practitioners are advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) who provide high-quality, cost-effective, and patient-centered care. They specialize in areas such as family practice, adult gerontology, and psychiatric-mental health. As autonomous healthcare providers, nurse practitioners expand access to primary and specialty care, particularly in underserved communities.
Certified Nurse Midwife
Certified nurse midwives are APRNs who provide care during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. They also support sexual and reproductive health, gynecologic health, and family planning. Their role in nursing promotes maternal and infant health, positive birth experiences, and informed reproductive health decisions.
Nurse Educator
Nurse educators prepare future nurses for safe and effective professional practice, helping to meet the evolving needs of patients and healthcare systems. Working in academic and clinical settings, nurse educators have responsibilities such as developing curriculum, teaching, and evaluating student performance.
Persevering through Challenges in Nursing
Despite considerable challenges in nursing, nurses show steadfast strength and resilience. The potential stress of a role in nursing would discourage many, but nurses persevere.
Nurses have demanding schedules and workloads. Many work long, irregular hours that require personal sacrifices. Plus, staffing shortages can create heavy patient loads. During the pandemic, approximately two-thirds of nurses said their workload increased. Still, nurses remain dedicated to their calling to help others.
The stressors of a demanding job can be emotionally taxing. So can caring for terminally ill patients, supporting patients’ families, and treating traumatic injuries. Despite emotional stress, resilience in nursing is plentiful. Nurses maintain empathy and compassion even while navigating their own emotions.
Nurses are selflessly committed to the profession and the well-being of the people they serve.
Growing the Human Connection
Nurses are healthcare heroes because they go above and beyond alleviating physical symptoms. They ensure patients feel valued, respected, and cared for. Addressing patients’ emotional and psychological needs creates human connection, which can foster trust and improve health outcomes.
Nurses foster human connection by treating patients with empathy and compassion. It’s holding the hand of a patient receiving anesthesia for surgery and reassuring their family when the surgery is over.
Nurses provide emotional support and listen attentively to patients’ concerns and feelings. They involve patients in healthcare decision-making and adapt their communication and care to patients’ cultural backgrounds, values, and preferences.
Through human connection, nurses enhance the healthcare experience and make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.
Acknowledging Healthcare Heroes in Nursing
Nurses deserve appreciation for their hard work and dedication—during Nurses Month and beyond. By expressing our gratitude regularly, we can help reinforce their pride and engagement in nursing. When nurses are engaged, they deliver safe and effective patient-centered care.
Here are a few simple ways to acknowledge nurses:
- Thank healthcare heroes in person or in a written note describing how they made a difference. You can also share your positive feedback with the organization where they work.
- If you’re a nurse, share your professional experiences with people you know. Your stories may inspire someone considering a nursing career to take the first step.
- Healthcare leaders can acknowledge and support nurses by encouraging professional development to advance their expertise and careers. Promoting nurse self-care and wellness will also build resilience in nursing, helping nurses thrive in and out of the workplace.
Expand Your Influence in Nursing as a Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
The demand is high for nurses with master’s and doctoral degrees. They are needed for advanced clinical practice, teaching, and research roles in nursing. If you are a nurse who is passionate about direct patient care and expanding your impact, you may want to consider becoming a primary care nurse practitioner (NP).
Primary care NPs help to address the significant shortage of primary care providers. As APRNs, primary care NPs are prepared with a master's degree or higher to diagnose, treat, and manage acute and chronic diseases. They also focus on health promotion and disease prevention.
Becoming a primary care NP contributes to a stronger nursing workforce and positive health outcomes. Primary care NPs also gain greater flexibility and autonomy in their careers.
Accomplish Your Goal of Becoming a Primary Care Nurse Practitioner with Felician University
Nurses are healthcare heroes who positively transform healthcare, education, policy, and beyond. Those who wish to extend their influence as primary care NPs can take the first step with Felician University, where students reach their highest potential as competent, compassionate, and resilient nurses.
Felician offers two online programs that empower nurses to become leaders in primary care—the Online Master of Science in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner (MSN-FNP) and the Online Master of Science in Nursing - Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (MSN-AGPCNP). With Felician, you can complete your primary care NP education in as little as two years and three months of study.
As a student in Felician’s online MSN-FNP or MSN-AGPCNP program, you will:
- Develop essential competencies through realistic patient experiences. Learn in a fast-paced, modern clinical setting and receive integrated clinical placement support.
- Gain the flexibility to keep your personal and professional commitments while developing your career to its fullest potential. Complete 100% online coursework, local clinical experiences, and one residency on Felician’s campus in Rutherford, New Jersey.
- Create deep connections with your peers and faculty. Although the coursework is fully online, that doesn’t mean you will go through the program alone.
The master’s degree program in nursing and post-graduate APN certificate program at Felician University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org). The program is designed for the modern world and combines experiential learning, dedicated faculty, advanced resources, and affordability into one unforgettable experience.