Letter: Celebrate nurses in memory of ‘Lady of the Lamp’

EDITOR,
Florence Nightengale was born in 1820 in Italy. She had a clear life mission: to care for the sick. She started the first nursing school in history, which changed the course of health care as we know it. She was known as “the Lady of the Lamp” for her ongoing care of patients through the dark hours of the night.
In 1953, Dorothy Sutherland sent a proposal to President Dwight D. Eisenhower to create a Nurses Day. In 1974, President Richard Nixon initiated a national nurses week. Finally, in 1982, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed May 6 national nurses day.
All of us will need a nurse at some moment in our lives. Every nurse deserves honor and recognition for his or her commitment to serving the sick. We must remember them on May 6, in order to keep their workplace a healing environment for patients, as well as them. Nurses are vital to our society’s well-being.
National nurses week is May 6 through 12; let us reach out to every nurse. Let us celebrate their presence in our lives now and forever. Thank you, nurses.
Reta Boughman, Scotts Valley