Yesterday morning, I attended an awards breakfast at the hospital I work for, honoring 105 nurses with Certificates of Nursing Excellence. My colleagues were recognized for developing patient safety and education programs, precepting, and academic or certification achievements. I received recognition because the American Journal of Nursing published my painting Love You to Death on its October 2009 cover. I was scheduled to work during the breakfast, but two days earlier, our manager arranged patient scheduling so I could attend, without burdening my coworkers with extra work.

     The usual hospital administrators, with the addition of a Chief Nursing Officer, presented the awards. This executive nurse sits on our hospital’s Board. To my knowledge, she is the first nurse to sit on the Board. She makes significant contributions to nursing management.

     Home from work, I checked my email and found that senior art editor Sylvia Foley mentioned both of my blogs, JParadisi RN’s Blog and Die Krankenschwester in a post on the AJN blog Off the Charts.

     Recognition for hard work feels good.

     There are more than 105 excellent nurses working at our hospital. Many simply did not fill out the form required to receive recognition. They choose to work hard without it. We are all wired a little differently, in that respect.  I used to prefer staying under the radar too. But part of taking care of me is taking time to celebrate accomplishments, instead of keeping track of failures. What you focus on expands.

     Happy Nurses Day.