We've seen the exhausted faces, the emotional sharing, of nurses who have been on the most brutal of front lines for over a year now. Wave 3 has challenged the spirits of those front-line care providers across Ontario and indeed, Canada, in ways that we will never understand. 

May 10-16, 2021 is National Nursing Week. Always celebrated during the week of May 12, Florence Nightingale's birthday, the theme this year is #WeAnswerTheCall and was developed by the Canadian Nursing Association to showcase the many roles that nurses play in a patient’s health-care journey. The pandemic has brought to light the courage and commitment that nurses work under every day and showed the important role that nurses play in the community. 

And so we say thank you. For your caring, expertise, professionalism and dedication to keeping people healthy. Thank you.  

We have nurses in our own faith family that deserve recognition and our thanks as well. Joy Hancock, Jane Linton, Aubrie Graham-Mendoza, Courtney McEachern, Jacqie DeGroote, Emily Linton, Nancy Easton. You 'answered the call' and the world is a better place because of that.

This video, although from the US, speaks to the commitment and dedication of nurses around the globe.

I found this prayer for all front-line workers, but share it as we think of our nurses during this difficult time:

Holy One,
We pray for those whose daily work exposes them to COVID-19.
We think of those working in hospitals, and those working in care homes for the young and the old.
We think of emergency service workers and those who are cashiers and sales clerks,
We think of janitors and cleaners and hospitality workers, drivers, postal workers, and so many more persons who are at risk.
(Time of reflection)
We think of them and we pray for them, for we believe our praying will lead to action.
Into the fear of these persons and their loved ones breathe peace, Loving God.
Into the tiredness of these persons and their loved ones breathe rest―rest of mind,
rest of body, rest of spirit.
Into the practical needs of these persons for suitable clothing and equipment and a break from the grinding pace, breathe understanding with those who direct them.
Into the concern of those who work where infection threatens, breathe our wholehearted thanks for the risks they are taking.
In the name of Jesus, the one who refused to compromise with the evil of his time, we pray,
Amen.

—By David Sparks, United Church of Canada minister

 

Karen Murray-Hopf

Communication & Media Coordinator