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Celebrating National Nurses Week: May 6-12, 2019

National Nurses Week is celebrated from May 6-12. Nurses at Children’s Minnesota continuously innovate to improve patient care and influence patients and families daily through their compassionate care and expertise. Nurses Week is devoted to highlighting the diverse ways in which registered nurses work to improve health care.

Children's Minnesota nurses standing together and smiling

The theme this year from American Nurses Association is, 4 million reasons to celebrate. This theme is dedicated to the 4 million nurses in America that work daily to improve the lives of patients.

Some of the families of Children’s joined us in celebrating and thanking our nurses for all they do for our patients by writing thank you notes.

Patient-family notes

Read some of the special notes below.

Nurse: Dani

Unit: NICU – St. Paul

Message: Thanks for being the awesome human you are! You help little warriors fight to get stronger every day so they can go home with their family. You comfort parents during a very difficult time. You are truly a rock star and a blessing.

From: The Tenneys

Nurse: Carrie

Department: Endocrinology

Message: Thank you for the many years of extraordinary care for our son. You have been a positive influence for all of us. Thank you for your patience, encouragement, professionalism and positive role modeling. You have made a difference in our lives.

From: Cathy

Nurse: Laura

Message: Laura was the head nurse for my daughter and took care of Addie almost every weekday. She is just one of the most kind, caring and nurturing nurses we met – we got to know each other really well. She would make it a point to teach us while she was caring for Addie and always, always asked “What questions do you have?”

From: Tiffany

Nurse: Charity

Unit: NICU – Minneapolis

Message: Thank you for all of the compassionate work that you do. Thank you for caring for all of those children like they are family. And thank you for being a welcoming, smiling face during one of our most trying times.

From: Becky and Craig

Nurse: Tim

Unit: PICU – Minneapolis

Message: Tim was the most amazing caregiver at our greatest hour of need. Last summer our baby was in the PICU for four days, and Tim was there to not only give him excellent care but also for us parents. Not only was he patient in explaining to us what was going on, but helped us find our way within Children’s – from directing us to the family resource center, to absolutely supporting the breastfeeding while our son was connected to a million tubes. He was truly a shining light in a dark time. Thank you, Tim!

From: Claire

Nurse: Colleen

Message: Colleen – we love you! You have impacted our lives more than you know and I’m so happy that Addie has people like you in her life that have been rooting for her since she was born!

From: Tiffany

Nurse: All nurses in these locations

Location(s)Emergency room, hematology/oncology clinic, 7th floor Minneapolis

Message: On several different occasions, nurses have recognized us and recalled little details about my daughter before they have had any chance to consult her chart. Each time, I feel like flopping to the floor in gratitude. For a nurse to see dozens of kids each week and still take the time to remember that my daughter needs specific distractions when getting an IV? (For example) This blows me away. Thank you, for all you do. Nurses are what make or break our experiences while hospitalized, while receiving emergency care and while receiving routine care. Our family could not be more grateful for you. Not just the work you do… YOU.

From: Kassandra

Nurse: Ava

Location: 6th floor, St. Paul

Message: She has a gift with teenagers, she was kind, compassionate and caring! We always request her. She deserves some credit!

From: Tania and Kinzie

Nurse: Terri

Unit: NICU

Message:  Caitlyn was sedated after her surgery due to breathing complications. Terri eased our worries. She actually moved her station into Caitlyn’s room to watch out for her. … Terri was a comforting face during a panicked time.

From: Rachel

Nurse: Leah

Message: Jayveon is very sweet, well mannered, and has a sense of humor and the nurses fell in love with him. He said his favorite nurse is Leah and she always goes out of her way to make sure he has everything he needs… Thank you for everything!

From: Jayveon and Kari

If you would like to make a donation in honor of a nurse in your life, please click here.

More press releases and awards

Dr. Yoav Messinger honored with Charles Bolles Bolles-Rogers Award
Congratulations to Yoav Messinger, MD, pediatric oncologist at Children’s Minnesota, for being honored with the Charles Bolles Bolles-Rogers Award. The award is presented by the Advocates for Better Health Foundation...
Children’s Minnesota awards Community Health Innovation Fund grants
Children’s Minnesota’s Collective for Community Health announces the first recipients of its Community Health Innovation Fund grants in partnership with Delta Dental....
Children’s Minnesota injury prevention manager honored for making child seat safety accessible

Dex Tuttle, injury prevention program manager at Children’s Minnesota, received the Child Passenger Safety Star award from Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths (TZD), the state’s traffic safety program. The awards were...