At the height of the pandemic the nation took notice of the valuable role that nurses play in our society. The high point of clanging pots and pans to celebrate healthcare professionals may be behind us, but the invaluable work nurses do on a daily basis is not forgotten by the communities they serve nor by the labor movement. AFT-Maryland is proud to celebrate all of the public health nurses in our federation that help keep our state and local communities safe and healthy.
We are indebted to each of you for your service, your commitment to public health, and the dexterity to keep going in the face of difficult challenges. Nursing is not an easy profession, but it is a necessary one. Public health is a particularly difficult terrain to navigate because of the difficulty getting resources needed to do your job effectively. Despite that, you all show up each day and provide high quality care to your patients and the community.
There is no magic word, or even a day of appreciation that will properly compensate you for the role that you play in our communities and across the state. However, your state federation is on your side working with you every step of the way to ensure that as public employees you get as many resources as possible to do your job effectively and safely. We will continue to advocate for you, and speak truth to power so they know the vital role nurses and health professionals play in the public health sphere.
This year as we exalt nurses, we look around to see that the national choir singing the praises of public health professionals has considerably shrunk. There are less trends and fewer celebrations extolling the virtues of public health professionals. That does not deter AFT-Maryland because our commitment to nurses goes beyond what’s in vogue. Our appreciation is wrapped in the sincere solidarity of the labor family and an authentic thank you for keeping yourselves, your families, and our communities healthy.
Happy Nurses’ Appreciation Week!
2023-05-06
Photo by Matthew Waring on Unsplash.
Portrait, "Melanie, March 2020"
by artist Johannah Churchill as part of
the "Hold Still" community exposition,
National Portrait Gallery, UK.