As we are in the season of Passover and Easter and all things Spring we think about renewal, salvation, and gratefulness. New Life is all around us. OR at least it should be. As nurses are we wallowing in the mire of what our healthcare system has turned into? Are we disgruntled with the work of taking care of people in this broken world? Can we still find gratefulness and kindness in our day to day?

Are “gratitude” and “kindness” genuine? Or are they Covid era buzz words. My sweet friend Cindy and I were discussing this very question the other day. She was displaying kindness by giving me a massage and I was grateful for the 90 minutes on her table. But we agreed that this wasn’t what has become the national intent with the words. It seems that businesses and people in general started using these words at every turn about a year ago. We were told to be kind to everyone and grateful for everything we still had while the world closed down for the pandemic. Had we stopped being kind? Were we being ungrateful? It seems that the political season we were in pushed the kindness agenda as well; as if with new leadership we would some how be kinder to each other.

I have found that when something is said and promoted to an extreme degree I tend to not hear it anymore; or just be annoyed by it. Like “new-normal” or “unprecedented times.” Or when an employer puts a tag line on every email or communication of any type that tells employees to be kind or courageous, it just loses its effect.

Webster’s Dictionary says that synonyms for kindness are: benevolence, boon, courtesy, favor, grace, indulgence, mercy, service, and turn. Grateful is defined as: appreciative of benefits received; pleasing by reason of comfort supplied or discomfort alleviated.

So, are nurses being kind and grateful or do we indeed need the constant reminders to be both? I believe that as nurses we spend a lot of our time showing kindness: we give what people don’t deserve (grace) and we don’t give what they do deserve (mercy). We serve and are courteous. But are we grateful? Should we be thankful for more than the fact that we never lost our jobs and that patients keep showing up? How about being thankful for each new day; for the breath in our lungs; for the skills we have; for the team we work with.

I see kindness all around me: nurses giving each other breaks, bringing each other coffees and food, spending time with the difficult patient who is really just scared, showing up shift after shift to take too many patients with too few supplies and help, giving 110% with each patient, loving on people they don’t know, protecting their fellow nurses, and giving of time and effort to an employer that just takes.

I see people being grateful. I see nurses appreciating each others’ efforts and abilities. I see patients being thankful for their nurses and other healthcare workers. I see and hear people being thankful for the gorgeous sunsets and sunrises on the way to and from work. I see people recognizing each other.

As we re-awaken from Winter and from Pandemic lock-down may we embrace this Spring with all its wonder and beauty. May we feel a sense of renewal. May we experience kindness and be grateful. Not the fluffy media portrayed “Kind and grateful” but the true heartfelt ones.

Happy Spring!