Celebrating Emergency Nurses Day every day

October 11, 2023, is Emergency Nurses Day. Falling in the middle of Emergency Nurses Week (Oct. 8–14), this yearly event is a wonderful celebration of everything emergency nurses do, both at Touro and every hospital across the country. Without emergency nurses, sick and injured people would have a harder time receiving the lifesaving care they require. That’s why Touro is committed to showing our emergency nurses how much they matter every day.

Why emergency nurses are important

A trip to your local hospital emergency room isn’t always a life-threatening emergency, but it’s usually a serious situation. Maybe your elderly parent fell and broke her hip, or maybe you’re being rushed to the ER in an ambulance after experiencing a heart attack. An ER is always open, and it’s always a fast-paced environment—which often means it’s incredibly stressful both for patients and staff. When it comes to emergencies such as stroke, every second makes a difference.

The care emergency nurses provide begins with triage—prioritizing who needs care—and ranges from treating common injuries to serious trauma after incidents, such as car wrecks or house fires. Whether administering medications or stitching up wounds, ER nurses treat patients with precision and respect. You want your emergency nurses prepared and on the scene every day, every shift.

Some emergency nurses are burnt out

The COVID-19 pandemic was hard on every healthcare professional. Emergency nurses are facing high levels of emotional exhaustion and job turnover—even those with certification for emergency nursing. In one survey, emergency nurses cited lack of staffing, a stressful work environment and burnout as key reasons for leaving their jobs. One intervention to reduce burnout is to help ensure a supportive work environment. While one week is not enough to recognize all the work emergency nurses do year-round, it can help improve morale.

How to celebrate emergency nurses

If you want to join in the celebration of Emergency Nurses Day or Emergency Nurses Week this year, here are some ways you can help.

• If you’re friends with an emergency nurse, ask what you can do to honor them. Maybe they’d like a gift card to their favorite restaurant or just a long conversation and walk on their day off.
• Make a donation to your local hospital in honor of emergency nurses.
• Post on social media about the great care you’ve received from emergency nurses. Use the hashtag #ENWeek and tag your local hospital or any nurses you know.
• Send a card to your local emergency department, thanking the emergency nurses for all they do.
• Talk to hospital administration about ways you can celebrate nurses by providing a meal, snacks or other goodies.

You can also encourage your friends, family or coworkers to join in the fun with social media posts or cards of their own.

The most important thing to remember is that you can celebrate the hard work emergency nurses do every time you see them by doing two simple things:

• Always treat nurses with respect while you’re waiting in the ER, no matter how stressed you are.
• Say thank you. It means a lot.

Emergency nurses deal with so much every day. Being polite and kind whenever possible will go a long way towards making everyone’s experience in the emergency department better.

If you’re dealing with an unexpected illness or injury, you can check in online at Touro’s emergency department.