Nurses, teachers deserve plenty of applause

As the situation with COVID-19 continues to improve and we look forward to much better times ahead, it’s appropriate to remember people who have made great sacrifices to help us endure these past 14 months.

It so happens that two key groups of people traditionally are honored this time of year. Teacher Appreciation Week continues through Saturday, and National Nurses Week started Thursday and runs through May 12, the birthday of modern nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale.

The timing is particularly good, as these occasions arrive just as the light at the end of our pandemic tunnel is becoming clear.

Of course it will take some more time to declare true victory over COVID-19, but the performance of nurses, teachers and so many other essential workers in the past year or so gives us confidence that they will continue to be up to handling whatever challenges remain.

Nursing already was a tremendously challenging field before the pandemic struck. Nurses are on the front lines in health care, often working in situations ordinary people would prefer to avoid and enduring unpredictable, irregular schedules. They play a crucial role in saving lives, restoring people back to good health and educating patients and caregivers. When people are unhappy with their care or are suffering anxiety, nurses work to calm them.

When the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic hit and most people were staying home, nurses were out there dealing firsthand with the health crisis while enduring shortages of key supplies and protective equipment. Not only did they put their own physical well-being at risk, they had to work through the tremendous mental strain associated with the death and severe illness all around them. When sick and dying patients could not be with loved ones, it was up to nurses to provide comfort.

Teachers have had to deal with plenty of challenges of their own. It started with the difficult few months at the end of the last school year as educators struggled to adapt to a sudden switch from full inperson to full virtual learning. They did admirable work under those difficult circumstances, then came roaring back in the fall far better prepared for the new reality.

But no amount of planning could fully prepare teachers for the tremendous test they have faced this school year. Many of them at one point or another have had to deliver instruction virtually, in-person or often some combination of the two. COVID-related school closures forced them to make adjustments to their routine literally overnight. They’ve responded to the challenge beautifully.

It’s important that we acknowledge the time set aside to honor teachers and nurses, as people in both fields often don’t get the respect they deserve. Educators often are denigrated by people who don’t understand just how much work teachers do outside the classroom, both during the school year and beyond. And nurses tend to be the ones who have to deal with patients and others who are unhappy with their care, typically for reasons far beyond their control.

It’s worth noting that both of these observances took time to catch on. From the 1950s to the 1970s, attempts to establish a national day or week honoring nurses with little response from Washington. The idea didn’t take hold until 1982, when President Ronald Reagan signed a resolution establishing May 6 as a national recognition day for nurses. The observance was extended to a week in the 1990s.

Similarly, an official observance honoring teachers was first proposed in the 1940s but didn’t become official until the 1980s. It took a considerable lobbying effort to persuade members of Congress that it is appropriate to take some time to honor teachers and recognize the lasting contributions they make to our lives.

Let us remember this week and all year round that teachers and nurses deserve our lasting respect for doing essential and difficult work at all times, even when there’s not a pandemic going on.