Community Hospice & Palliative Care celebrates Nurses Week

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National Nurses Week takes place Thursday, May 6, through Wednesday, May 12, and marks the 201st year of celebrating nurses. The week allows people the chance to acknowledge the nurses in their lives, and provides an opportunity to thank them for the work they have done.

Community Hospice & Palliative Care employs more than 386 nurses that care for almost 1,600 patients a day. Many times at the end of life, a nurse is the last person a patient has contact with and the care they provide during this phase will affect the family’s memories of their loved one’s final days.

“Katie, our nurse, was my angel. She was the kindest and most giving person we have ever met, and she just felt like family,” Mrs. Strickland, wife and caregiver of a patient at Community Hospice & Palliative Care, said of Katie Platt. “She knew my husband was going to go and she stayed with him and held his hand. I thank you all every day for watching over him. I’m grateful for what you did for him, even for such a short time he was in your care, and I’m grateful he wasn’t alone.”

Nurses have played an even more important role over the last year as our community and the nation dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. They have regularly put their health and safety on the line to compassionately care for those who may be positive for the virus while also suffering from chronic or advanced illness.

“Our nurses are an integral part of our care team. We are blessed to have an amazing group of caring compassionate loving nurses,” said Mary McElroy, senior vice president of Hospice Services. “They are Community Hospice.”

Community Hospice & Palliative Care will celebrate by honoring their nurses with a recognition webinar series, gift bags and a social media campaign that shares messages of thanks from staff. In addition, the health care relations team will be honoring nurses in the community to thank them.