Inspirational Speeches Any Nurse Can Enjoy
Higher Education Articles October 23, 2013Looking for a nursing speech to give you enough motivation to face the next challenge around the bend? Here, you will find resources for inspiration and motivation to keep you going, no matter how rough the last shift was.
Nursing is tough. The most experienced nurses will tell you that there are days they have wanted to quit, heart-wrenching shifts that moved them to tears, and frustratingly difficult moments in dealing with patients, doctors, or other nurses that have made them question whether they’re in the right place, doing the right thing.
At moments like those, sometimes the best course of action is to sit down, put on some soothing music, and take a big dose of inspiration and motivation from nurses who have been through the same challenges. Here are a few of the top nursing speeches and stories to inspire and uplift both experienced nurses and nursing students alike.
For students or recent nursing grads
This keynote address by Keith Carlson, an experienced sports health nurse in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is directed at nursing students just about to graduate–but the wisdom and insight, he offers, apply to nursing students and nurses across the country. He gives students a real-life look at what being a nurse means (and some of the comical incidents that rise from experience in the profession) as well as a look at the one-of-a-kind rewards that nursing offers.
The Difference a Nurse Can Make: A Patient’s Perspective
This story, published by ScrubsMag, was written by a woman who endured weeks of medical treatments and hospitalizations–but not for herself. She gave birth to a son with an underdeveloped heart, but the care of the nurses made all the difference in her view of the situation. As she tells the heartrending story, she concludes with the difference only a nurse can make:
Nurses saved my child. Nurses saved my sanity. Nurses are the best educators and the fiercest lions on earth. They stand between the gates of life and death and do their best to keep those who want to stay here on this side with the people who love them.
In the words of a recent graduate
This nursing grad was asked to give a speech at her Regis University nursing pinning ceremony. Here, she sums up the rigors of nursing school, the changing perspective that nursing school gives students, and–most importantly–empathy and the real meaning of being a nurse, through the heartrending and painfully challenging moments of both nursing school and real-life practice.
Her conclusion? It is worth it. Nursing school–and the nursing profession– are worth the self-sacrifice, the sleepless nights, and the sore feet. With a touch of humor, she thanks those who have supported her and offers a few words of advice for new nurses and reminders from those who had gone before her: Nursing is more than just a job. It is a service.
Empathy is a nurse who takes his or her profession seriously, with patients’ precious lives in their hands, double checks their work, and delivers safe, professional, and holistic care. This nurse views nursing, not as a job or a task, but as a service to others to ensure the patient has the best quality of life possible.
