A Little Kindness Goes A Long Way In Nursing

By Alice Abade

There is an air of heaviness around hospitals, many times coupled with fear and anxiety. The occasional groaning moans from unfathomed depths of pain to the hushed voices along with wearied and often troubled faces. The startling sound of beeping monitors to the whooshing ventilators do very little to calm already troubled nerves.

For an environment that is occasioned by darkness and gloom, a little kindness often goes a very long way. Nursing creates the perfect avenue to extend kindness given the profession entreats care for patients. However, while every nurse can routinely care for a patient, some exceptional nurses go beyond normal patient care. The enchantment of their kindness leaves a lasting impression and is forever etched in the hearts of patients and their loved ones.

For such nurses, care, and compassion knows no bounds as it goes beyond the confines of the hospital ward. It is in the occasional checkups long after a discharge. The sensitivity to the patient’s condition beyond their normal working hours that counts as kindness.

To be entrusted with another’s vulnerability, their dignity stripped off by a disorder, and to handle their susceptibility lovingly and cheerfully with a positive attitude is kindness like no other. And for some despondent cases, it is this mirth and positivity that their lives cling to every other day. The comforting and reassuring words that they lean to, through the uncertainty.

To be at the beck and call of not only patients but their families as well, educating and relentlessly responding to a myriad of questions is kindness redefined. This level of kindness understands that treading murky and unfamiliar territory becomes less weary with someone knowledgeable walking you through.

Exceptional nurses show excellent clinical care through their nursing intuition. Nothing speaks kindness as loud as paying close attention to detail. Many patients’ lives have been saved by nurses who were bold and gracious enough to share a counter opinion that prevented a negative patient outcome.

Remarkable nurses show kindness every day as they handle often mundane tasks in exceptional ways.

It is easy to dismiss these acts of kindness as just the usual conduct of duties. However, those who have been recipients of such care and compassion attest that truly a little kindness goes a long way.

We are excited about our partnership with the DAISY Foundation to recognize nurses who exemplify exceptional kindness, compassion, advocacy, and leadership.