LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — This week is normally reserved as Nurses Week, a whole week to celebrate healthcare workers. After the year they've had, they deserve it.
"Unsure of what our footing was because we'd never been through a pandemic before," Susan Erickson, UAMS Senior Nurse Recruiter, said.
It might come as a surprise, though, to hear healthcare workers at UAMS speak positively over the past year.
"It's been an amazing year, in a lot of ways," Trenda Ray, Chief Nursing Officer, said.
With how much negativity has come from the pandemic, it might make more sense to hear heartbreaking stories, rather than happy ones.
"To be able to be there and hold their hand and be with them is not an easy thing," Carol Brizzolara, an RN at UAMS said, crying. "But those are precious memories too."
While this week is normally Nurses Week, UAMS decided to celebrate them over the whole month.
"Kind of brings the circle back, and remind us it's more than support through a tough time," Brizzolara said. "But all the different ways we as nurses can support each other."
Over the course of the month, each week is separated into categories. This first week is focused on self-care, something very important after working through the pandemic.
"Just the caring compassion and support," Brizzolara said. "That is not just for nurses caring for patients, but nurses caring for other nurses."
While the next 30 days are focused on the nurses, you could just as easily argue that the whole year has been Nurses Week. With so much attention, Ray says UAMS had to do something different.
"We've had a year where the focus has been on nursing," she said. "2020 was the year of the nurse, as designated by the World Health Organization."
After the longest year of their lives, having this month dedicated to them is nice, but getting back to normal is even better.
"And I'm like, 'I'm so sorry I can't hug you right now!'" Erickson said. "So I am totally looking forward to hugging my nurses."