I realize many nurses opine about Nurses Week as if administrators are forcing hospital cafeteria cookies down their throats while simultaneously stuffing their scrub pockets with cheap pens and angel figurines (adorned with an iconic nurse’s cap, of course).

Nurses Week is actually much more than all of that surface-level stuff, though. Personally, I have the opportunity to shower some extra love on the nurses in my life – the family members, the friends, the coworkers who are a part of my nursing career. We have a bond that ties us. Don’t get me wrong, that bond can be ugly and frayed; it’s by no means perfect. But it’s ours – the sweet moments of care, the horrific shifts, the mundane moments – and I get to highlight it.

I get to say via word and deed, “I know how hard your life’s work is because I do it, too, and you rock it; you own it; this week is about you because you are seriously that amazing.”

Funny thing is, the more I focus on and build up the nurses around me, the higher I go, as well. I think the more I write, the more written words mean to me. I sat at my desk yesterday morning, reading words from a friend and nurse colleague that brought me to tears.

No administrator has ever given me such a gift as the sincere and secretive thanks of a nurse colleague, nor could I ever expect him or her to be able to. No, the best person to take care of a nurse during Nurses Week is a nurse. That transcends trinkets.