Get ready for National Nurses Week!

Nurses do one of the toughest jobs in home care -- and in health care. An important national observance to honor the work these professionals do is right around the corner.

This National Nurses Week (May 6-12), make it a point to recognize the nurses at your company, as well those as at long-term care facilities, hospitals and medical staffing agencies in your community.

Here are some ideas to help you get started:

  • Place an item on your municipal government’s meeting agenda seeking to formally declare May 6–12, 2014 as National Nurses Week. Sign up to speak during the meeting’s public comment period or at the agenda item’s reading to publicly express your agency’s appreciation for nurses. Here’s a sample proclamation to use as a template.
  • Call your local newspaper and ask to write a guest editorial about National Nurses Week and the important role nurses play in your community. Be sure to highlight the role of the home care nurse. If a guest editorial is ruled out, write a letter to the editor with the same theme.
  • Contact the health or community affairs writer at your local newspaper and pitch a story on a day in the life of one of your nursing professionals. Identify a potential candidate for this in advance and also try to identify whether one of that nurse’s patients would like to be interviewed and/or photographed as well. Don’t forget to have any participating patients sign a media consent form if they do agree (here are two examples of consent forms). Important note: Make sure this is a no-pressure request of both your staff member and, more importantly, the patient. DO take no for an answer.
  • Alternately, you can invite a local or state politician to shadow one of the nurses at your agency this week and also invite the media to cover it. They will learn how home care nurses work hard to ensure the health of the community. You’ll raise awareness about the importance of home care while shining a spotlight on your agency.
  • Visit the website of the American Nurses Association to download a Resource Toolkit with tons of ideas and materials to help you celebrate nurses this National Nurses Week.
  • Visit our online store to order National Nurses Week cards, stickers, posters, notepads and posters. The products are fully personalized to your agency. If you have something else in mind, contact TAG Partners at 866-232-6477 to speak with a marketing specialist about your needs.
  • Partner with groups such as doctors’ offices, libraries and schools to put up displays recognizing Nurses Week. Be sure your agency’s name and logo stand out.
  • Don’t forget to spread the love at your own office. Provide a sincere thank you to the nurses in your agency and feature those who go above and beyond in your employee newsletter.