In the middle of my career, I managed a healthcare company with multiple departments and a wide range of responsibilities. During my first year, I had my hands full—debating with IT to ensure their office had proper lighting and making sure the sales team was fairly compensated. But I never encountered any issues with the nurses.
Until early May.
I did not know there was a Nurses Week and therefore I had not planned any sort of event or celebration. Nurses, who were incredibly important to our day-to-day business, suddenly were not happy.
I quickly ordered a bouquet of balloons and had them put up on everyone’s chairs. This was received as a last-minute token gesture and of course, I had failed to think about latex allergies. I was back in the doghouse.
The good thing for me is that Nurses Week is, well, a weeklong – so I had some time to make it up.
Within a couple of days, we had a proper celebration and acknowledged our most important colleagues.
This story is meant to be a cautionary tale. Nurses are hard workers. Their job is to listen to others and solve problems. I found that they generally weren’t phased by much – until they were – and then you realize that they are also outspoken and action-oriented.
We celebrate nurses for many reasons, but in case you need some examples, think about this:
- Turnover for nurses is extremely high. In the 2025 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing report published by NSI Nursing Solutions, RN turnover is 16.4%. The cost of replacing a nurse is significant, with most estimating it will be 150% of the current salary. Recruitment is also difficult, taking on average 83 days.
- Burnout is real. Mental health is a focus for many employers in 2025. Nurses are often on the front line of caring for others. Nurses Week can be an excellent opportunity to remind them that self-care is important. Use Nurses Week to create small luxuries (maybe it’s a yoga class or in-house chair massages) that remind them both that you care about their wellbeing, and they should too.
- A sense of community is important. Use Nurses Week to get the team together. Nursing can be a stressful and isolating position. By getting everyone together, they can begin to develop a peer network and talk about best practices.
- A strong nursing team drives operational excellence. We know that happy nurses can improve patient care and healthcare outcomes. We also know that they have a large role in operational outcomes and profitability. Healthcare institutions that prioritize patient satisfaction experience have more loyal patients, who are not only likely to return but are also more likely to recommend the hospital to family and friends.
- Nurses can promote your brand. Because nurses are often the first person and the last person a patient sees, they are in a unique situation to drive brand loyalty. Use Nurses Week to create an opportunity to give them branded items and learn more about your organization.
- The nursing shortage means that there will be pressure on pay. The Medical Group Management Association report on 2025 nurse compensation shows that 34% of medical groups are expecting a large increase in nurse pay. Use Nurses Week to give one-time or spot acknowledgments that can achieve the same effects as a pay increase without the long-term implications. These can be gift cards or gift certificates.
We know as employers that there is value in having engaged employees. Nurses Week is an excellent time to put employee engagement into action. According to Gallup, when a healthcare team is highly engaged, there is a 15% increase in patient safety. According to the Cleveland Clinic, there is a direct correlation between high employee engagement scores and patient satisfaction scores.
And if that isn’t enough to get you to celebrate nurses, let me add that I have found them to be a fun group to celebrate and that they are genuinely looking for ways to become an important part of the team.
