When I was fourteen years old, I was thrilled to receive my cap at the Candystriper Induction Ceremony at The Barnert Memorial Hospital in Paterson, New Jersey.
Although my friends and I fussed and giggled as we tried to keep our caps from slipping or tilting, at the time we were far more focused on that than on the meaning behind the moment. During my shifts, I pushed a small cart filled with magazines and mauve plastic pitchers of apple juice or water. I knocked on doors and gently asked if I could come in. These were simple gestures, offered with sincerity and a quiet hope to brighten someone’s day.
These simple interventions delivered with tremendous earnestness and a compelling desire to brighten someone’s day were tangible and powerful. It would be decades before I discovered the impact that simple acts of kindness and social connection play on reducing isolation, depression, and rumination.
And yet my fourteen-year-old self knew that I was making a small yet significant difference. Each day, there are so many micro-actions each one of us can take to elevate the life of someone going through a setback, medical challenge, or hard time.
In honor of Nurse Appreciation Week, Soaringwords salutes the nurses who do this every day—bringing compassion, presence, and humanity to millions of lives.
