Celebrating Nurses Month

May kicks off Nurses Month. Traditionally, Nurses Week is celebrated from May 6 - 12 each year to correspond with Florence Nightingale’s birthday on May 12. For the first time ever, the American Nurses Association will expand National Nurses Week to a month-long celebration in May to expand opportunities to elevate and celebrate nursing. The theme for Nurses Month is “Nurses Make a Difference”. While still practicing social distancing and health safety, Coventry and the American Nurses Association encourage everyone to think about creative ways to engage and interact (virtually if need be) to honor our nurses. Nurses Month will be divided into four weekly focuses:

• Week 1: Self-Care (May 1-9)
• Week 2: Recognition (May 10 – 16)
• Week 3: Professional Development (May 17 – 23)
• Week 4: Community Engagement (May 24 – 31)

When we received a note regarding Deborah Clough-Gitchell RN, CCM, from her manager, Julie Vernum RN, BS, CDMS, we couldn’t wait to share it with our readers. Dear Julie, It is with such happiness that I write the following words: I am back to work. Ten weeks ago, I suffered a traumatic injury at school and had emergency surgery. Immediately, Deborah reached out to my family and started the process of workers’ compensation. A few days after my surgery I finally spoke with Deborah and I have been speaking with her ever since. In the beginning, we spoke almost daily or at least every other day. She walked me and my family through the process of being transferred into a rehabilitation center, and she [caption id="attachment_1608" align="alignright" width="158"] Deborah Clough-Gitchell RN, CCM[/caption] followed up on my physical therapy and nursing care there. In addition, she arranged for transportation to my surgeon, followed up with all my visits, and made sure I had the correct equipment to help with my rehab and transition back home. Once I was home, she followed up with my surgeon’s appointments and my selection of outpatient physical therapy. I know that all of this is her “job”, but why I am writing to you today is to tell you how awesome Deborah did her “job”. Deborah treated me with compassion, she listened while I cried for hours with self-pity. She encouraged me to work even harder and not to miss a second of physical therapy. She was the voice of reason when I was too upset to listen to anyone else. She was patient and explained things to me over and over. She never asked for anything, but miraculously made everything happen. Here we are ten weeks after the fall, and I am back to work. Am I still in pain? Yes. Am I walking with a cane? Yes. But I honestly feel that if Deborah could take away my pain and my cane, she would. You have an amazing nurse case manager in Deborah, and I have had the wonderful fortune to be assigned to her. Thank you so much for making the right assignment! If you haven’t already, check out the Coventry social media feeds where we’ve been posting daily shoutouts to our Field Case Managers. #NursesRock #YON2020