National Nurses Week 2021

Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, located at the foot of the Smoky Mountains in Knoxville, Tennessee celebrated Nation Nurses Week with awards, goodie bags and pet therapy.

LeConte Medical Center is located in Sevier County, Tennessee with over 200 nurses. They celebrated their nurses week with a variety of actives including chalk art, sign gypsy, DAISY presentation, posters of encouragement,  ice cream, chocolate dipped strawberries, gift bags, and hand signed cards of appreciation were mailed to each nurse.

The chalk and posters were created by the nurse leadership team to offer words of encouragement to their staff as they continue to push through these difficult times.

In addition, the nurse leadership team hand delivered ice cream using a mini ice-cream truck created by a LeConte employee. 

One of the highlights of nursing week was awarding an ICU nurse with the DAISY Award. She went above and beyond with many patients during the peak of COVID-19 and is a great example of putting the patient first and extending excellent care.

Maury Regional Medical Center, located in Columbia, Tennessee, kicked off their Vacation Themed Nurses Week with tropical Hawaiian shaved ice for the staff! Nurse leaders served Hawaiian shaved ice on multiple occasions during the week including Saturday for day shift and night shift. 

Every nursing staff member received a Nursing Dry Bag for their beach/water vacation!  All nurses were provided a free meal ticket. 

They conducted a Nursing Sand Pail decorating contest for everyone to show off their creativity. Maury Regional Medical Center’s CEO, CNO and COO went to each nurses station to judge those pails. The Emergency Department won the contest with their “LifeSavers Resort” pail. 

The Nursing Council sponsored a silent auction fundraiser to benefit the Employee Assistance Fund for the Maury Regional Health Foundation. The silent auction fundraiser raised $1,855 for that fund. 

Annually, nursing and support staff are honored with awards. Those staff members were nominated by their peers for the following categories: Charge Nurse of the Year, Preceptor of the Year, Nightingale Award, Rising Star Award, Nurse Leader of the Year, Outcomes Nurse of the Year, and Support Staff member of the year.  For this year’s awards, the council received 221 nominations for 130 different staff members-the highest number on record! 

The Nursing Council ended the week with the 2020 Nursing Annual Report to share nursing accomplishments from throughout the year.  This year there were so many accomplishments to be recognized, from COVID response, innovations, nurse driven outcomes to achieving Magnet status.

Nashville General Hospital, in Nashville, Tennessee celebrated National Nurses Week with a special theme this year. The theme, “Nurses are Superheroes in Disguise” is a true testament to the strength, guidance, and comfort that the nursing staff provides for patients and fellow NGH family each and everyday.

Northcrest Medical Center, located in Springfiled, Tennessee is a not-for-profit community hospital, that has been providing compassionate, quality healthcare since 1956. With a mission of enhancing community and patient wellness, NorthCrest provides inpatient, outpatient, and emergency medical services to Northern Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky.

For this year’s Nurses Week, Northcrest Medical Center planned different activities for each day of the week. They celebrated nurses with flowers and balloons, cupcakes, boxed lunches, ankle socks and a breakfast served by doctors!

Roane Medical Center, located in Harriman, Tennessee is a not-for-profit medical center, accredited by The Joint Commission and a member of Covenant Health.

To kick off National Nurses Week, RMC set up a full calendar of events including, a display of nurses pet photos, a special Nursing Newsletter and crossword puzzles, and a coffee & hot chocolate cart.

The celebration continued throughout the week with  a cookie distribution, DAISY Award presentation, “Luck of the Nurse” raffle, Pet Therapy, cupcakes, gifts and more!

Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital, located in Nashville Tennessee had a full week of events planned for National Nurses Week.

They organized a virtual race for nurses. There was a website that nurses could sign up, get a free t-shirt and then upload their results to their unit during nurses week. The goal was to have some friendly competition and be active and healthy! #vuahnursesrockandrun

On Tuesday May 11^th  they hosted the “Nurses Awards.” The awards recognized unsuspecting winners via virtual platforms as the Chief Nursing Officer and others surprised them in person.

Nurse managers were asked to submit a favorite inspirational quote that inspires them either professionally or personally. A “flip-book” with all of the quotes was created online for all of the staff to see. 

They hosted a scavenger hunt, which was another online virtual activity. Nurses used clues to find things around campus, and then uploaded photos of themselves with said place. There was a prize for  the first three to solve all of the clues.