By Shane Reeves, TwelveStone Health, Chief Executive Officer
Happy Nurses Week!
Nurses have always been the cornerstone of medical care delivery and it is important to give honor where honor is due. We are thankful for the incredibly talented nurses that work in a variety of positions at TwelveStone Health Partners. Our patients are blessed by your unwavering commitment to excellence balanced with caring, empathetic attitudes.
The first case of COVID-19 in the United States was confirmed in Seattle, Washington on January 21, 2020. It was a 30-year-old man traveling back from Wuhan, China. He was experiencing pneumonia-like symptoms. That was 839 days ago. As we enter the month of May, it really feels like we finally are entering a post COVID-19 world. With vaccines so readily available and new antivirals like Paxlovid being readily dispensed in Tennessee pharmacies, I suspect we are entering a new permanent normal for this pandemic and we will have “cough, cold, flu & COVID” seasons indefinitely.
It is time to exhale.
I can’t think of a better way to celebrate this victory than to thank our outstanding nurses!
We have known for years that nurses bridge the delicate gap between doctor and patient providing knowledge and comfort at a patient’s (and their families) most stressful moment. There are few jobs where these two gifts are combined so effortlessly. There was a season early in the pandemic where the world finally noticed what we knew all along and they lined the streets to thank the staff at the end of their shift. While the attention may have waned in the outside world, I hope that this week – Nurse’s week – we can once again come together to highlight and lift up those who serve so faithfully.
Because nurses tend to move effortlessly behind the scenes, they may or may not like a big public display of gratitude. It would be a special gift for us to think of a few nurses we are especially close with in our life, both here at TwelveStone and in our own world when we visit the doctor’s, and consider finding a way to thank, bless and encourage them.
Short on time? The written word on a card is a lost practice and can still warm even the weariest of hearts. Go be a blessing to those who have blessed us.
Psalms 37:11 “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”
