I feel it is necessary to remind readers that The Capital retains the right to refuse any and all letters to The Editor. As the Provincial Election is upon us we will refuse any letter promoting one candidate including Party leaders, over another.
Sunday, May 14, is Mother’s Day. Don’t forget it and don’t forget to remind your sons and daughters about Mom’s special day.
You don’t have to break the bank to honour Mom. Now, if you’re lucky enough to have a mom, how about a phone call instead of a text? It’s always nice to hear a voice. How about a visit or a nice drive in the country?
Maybe you could take Mom on a picnic or, if you have the means, how about a nice Mother’s Day Brunch? There are always flowers and chocolates and all sorts of gifts.
Try to spend some quality time with your mom but most importantly, don’t forget your mom on Mother’s Day.
This week, May 8 - 14, 2023 is National Nursing Week. The annual celebrations take place from Monday to Sunday of the same week as Florence Nightingale’s birthday, May 12.
The theme this year is Our Nurses. Our Future. This theme showcases the many roles that nurses play in a patient’s healthcare journey. The pandemic brought to light the courage and commitment that nurses work under every day and showed the important role that nurses play in the community.
The week also draws attention to nurses, increasing the awareness of the public, policy-makers and governments of the many contributions of nursing to the well-being of Canadians.
On a personal note, our family has been in the healthcare system for a few years now due to chronic kidney disease.
My wife, having a kidney transplant, in June of 2021, had 27 nurses look after her in the seven days she was in the Foothills Hospital. Many shifts were just the nurses, as there was and still is a shortage of health aids. Every day she took a picture of her whiteboard that each patient has on the wall facing their bed, in their hospital room. She used these pictures to keep track of her nurses so we could thank each nurse personally for the wonderful care given to her.
With our son Jay, being in the hospital for 10 months, it would be impossible to even start counting how many nurses took care of him. Each hospital, which includes Three Hills, Red Deer Regional, Foothills Hospital, Rockyview General Hospital and the Drumheller Hospital had wonderful, caring, professional nursing staff that treated our son with the utmost care.
Seeing firsthand the shortages of hospital help the nurses have, the number of duties per patient, and some nurses having up to 12 patients to look after, in their long (up to 12-hour shifts), really made us appreciate each and every dedicated nurse.
Three times a week Jay is in the Drumheller Kidney Dialysis Unit, where different nurses, trained in dialysis machines, look after him. We thank them for their dedicated care to Jay and all the kidney patients they look after, every week.
So to our family, to every nurse and their families, we say “Thank You” from the bottom of our hearts.
That’s Life.
