It’s that time of year again, summer is ending, schools are opening their doors again and Labor Day is here. A Monday holiday that lets a majority of people enjoy another long weekend as we begin to fall into cooler autumn days. With the tempting flash sale ads that are popping up all over your news feeds and a shortened work week, the meaning behind Labor Day is often forgotten in the circus. Nevertheless, the founding of Labor Day is deeply rooted in one of the defining strengths of our country today: the American work ethic. Nurses working Labor Day are perfect examples of that ethos, and today we say thank you.
Hard-working Nurses Continue to Grow the Profession
America is famous for our bootstraps stories; citizens who rise in power and wealth from nothing. While these stories are anecdotal—not everyone who is rich comes from nothing, and not everyone with nothing becomes rich—they are the dramatic reflections of the more moderate and prevalent experience that hard work begets success. The labor of nurses throughout the years has led to massive systemic improvements in healthcare delivery, reduced mortality rates on battlefields of war and in hospitals, and shaped modern-day nursing into the respected and valuable profession it is today. Every day, the efforts and contributions of nurses continue to grow the profession and improve healthcare delivery methods and outcomes.
Working Hard in Our Language
Our culture’s commitment to labor for results is embedded in our everyday exchanges. There are several idioms commonly thrown about in the work setting and at home. How many of the following sayings have you said/heard/read while on shift or talking about a shift?
- Blood, sweat, and tears
- Burning the midnight oil
- Burning the candle at both ends
- Go the extra mile
- Bend over backwards
- Jump through the hoops
- Pull your own weight
- Rome wasn’t built in a day
- Roll up your sleeves
- Buckle down
- No pain, no gain
- Work your tail off
- Work like a horse/dog
- Many hands make light work
- The devil makes work for idle hands
- Nothing worth having comes easy
How Do You Celebrate Labor Day?
If you celebrate Labor Day with a parade or party then you are keeping with the original spirit of the holiday from over one hundred years past. In 1882, New York City celebrated the first-ever Labor Day with a large parade and family festival. The purpose of the holiday was to celebrate the working class and the trade and labor organizations and their contributions to raising the standard of both living and working conditions, and the overall prosperity of our country. That’s an ideal we can all rally around.
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We Are Thankful for Nurses
Whether you celebrate Labor Day in a traditional way, treat it like any other weekend day, or pick up a shift at a nearby hospital or healthcare facility, we want nursing professionals everywhere to feel acknowledged and appreciated. Nurses and nursing assistants stand as fundamental pillars of the health and well-being of all. Your dedication and determination have been heroic.
Regardless of where you are currently—actively working or not—your hard work made a difference and continues to do so every shift. To every nurse and nursing assistant working Labor Day or enjoying a day off; we see you. At Nursa, we see that every single shift you work makes a difference. Every patient under your care is better off thanks to your efforts. Your knowledge and skills in action produce considerable impact on your patients, their families, and other clinicians. Your work is valuable. You are valuable. Thank you.
