May 01, 2025
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No matter what specialty you’re in, you know that a nurse’s work never stops. You’re dedicated to saving the lives of others, and you take on unpredictable situations with grace. For these reasons and so many more, you deserve to be honored and celebrated during Nurses Week, starting May 6th.
To help you and your colleagues and teammates make the most of it, we pulled together a list of the best Nurses Week celebration ideas and broke them up into three categories: activities you can do for your colleagues, inexpensive ideas for you and your team, and activities you can do just for yourself. Take a look at the list below and see how you can celebrate yourself and your nursing friends this year.
Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6th through 12th to recognize the many contributions nurses make to society. The concept was presented to the White House in 1953 by Dorothy Sutherland, an employee at the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, but did not become an officially recognized week until 1993. That year, the American Nurses Association (ANA) lobbied and won. That is when it was decided that Nurses Week would always end on May 12th, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, who is considered the founder of modern nursing.
The purpose of Nurses Week is to honor past nurses and celebrate current ones, focusing on self-care, recognition, professional development, and community engagement. Considering how nurses have historically been at the forefront of battling illnesses, in the front lines of wars, and by patients’ sides guiding them through pain, grief, and triumph, it feels important to recognize and appreciate the impact nurses have on so many lives.
Here are six fun Nurses Week celebration ideas you can use to celebrate, recognize, and care for your colleagues.
Nurse managers, get the whole town involved to recognize the importance of nursing in your community. Reach out to local business owners to get donations, sponsored gifts, and complimentary services like massages, hairstyles or haircuts, food, or manicures and pedicures. Then create a grab bag of gifts your team can pull out and win.
You’re always on the go, so you need a good meal (and one that’s not cafeteria food) to keep yourself powered up. You all spend a good portion of your time at work, so treat your team to a catered, in-house lunch from a favorite local restaurant. If the administration won’t foot the bill, coordinate a potluck in which you all bring a favorite dish and learn a little about each other.
Cheesy, maybe. Team spirit? You know it. Purchase a group T-shirt for your whole team to wear. Nurse-owned companies like Riot Healers and Nurses Inspire Nurses are a great way to support nurse entrepreneurs while sporting a cool tee. Sites like Custom Ink offer free shipping on orders. Rush Order Tees offers 30% off your entire order with free eight-day delivery. You all should be proud of the work you do as nurses. Why not let the world know?
It could be as simple as meeting up in someone’s backyard for a cookout, or as big a “to-do” as reserving the patio at your team’s favorite restaurant. Gather up as many of your peers as you can and meet up for dinner and a night of fun. This can also be done in groups so each nurse at your hospital or care facility has a chance to get in on this fun Nurses Week activity.
Nurses are always learning to prioritize their mental health and emotional well-being. Solutions and interventions that support these life-skills, especially in high-risk and high-stress environments, are imperative. Holding emotional support sessions that are facilitated by a trained expert such as a therapist or counselor — who is not affiliated with the facility — may make nurses feel safe to share their feelings.
Nurses love building community. They want to be heard, feel valued, and experience a sense of belonging. A community-building activity such as sip and paint is not only fun but also allows the nurses to get to know each other in a less formal setting. No paint? No problem. Consider team bowling or one of these other community-building activities:
Whether you’re the manager or just a good organizer, these are great affordable (or free!) ideas to get your nursing team in the celebratory spirit all week.
The fact is that more nurses are considering leaving the profession. So what can you do for your team, who you care about and depend on? Offer opportunities that will empower them to grow their careers.
Ideas for this include: create mentorship pairings, suggest accountability partners, provide continuing education hours, and/or schedule a lunch n’ learn series of nurse leaders as guest speakers who can share their experiences blazing new paths in the profession. Survey your team on how they’d like to be supported, and see what you can do.
Learn about free CE credits offered by Berxi’s partners
Studies have found that therapy dogs can help reduce stress. Find out if your facility has therapy dogs on staff or is connected to any therapy dog organizations and see if they can make a surprise round or two on your floor.
Recognition goes a long way. Consider big and small ways you can point out the contributions each nurse makes to your team. Write each person a card, create a list of superlatives (only touting best traits, of course!), or create a social media post. Have some nurses making big changes? Invite the local media to do a feature.
Dr. Elise Bialylew, founder of Mindful in May, found that practicing mindfulness meditation for 10 minutes a day (for one month) created more positive emotions, reduced stress, increased self-compassion, and strengthened focus. So find a spare room to encourage the staff to disconnect for their own personal health. Add cozy pillows, soothing lights, and a sound machine to drown out noise from the hall. And if there’s budget for it, invite a meditation or yoga teacher or masseuse in for a day or two.
Who doesn’t love a good theme party? Now you can have one every day for your team. This can be focused around food or clothing — or both! Think:
Organize a week of food-related treats. This can be desserts, a lunchtime salad station or taco bar, or a morning assortment of special coffees, teas, and pastries. You don’t have to do all the cooking or purveying yourself. Other ideas include a potluck or a “food challenge” (guacamole taste test or brownie bake-off anyone?). But you can add the organization, décor, and special finishing touches like prizes for all!
Don’t forget to treat yourself a little bit too! Here are seven Nurses Week celebration ideas for some much-needed self-care.
When you actually have time to kick back and relax . . . do just that. Go ahead and binge-watch Netflix in bed, shop at your favorite stores, get out on an inspiring walk, or head to a scenic spot to remove all distractions. Your chore list can wait; self-care can’t.
Many food chains give nurses free or discounted meals during Nurses Week. But did you know that other industries do too? Examples include beauty brands, travel experiences, technology items, houseware, clothing, and makeup. If you’ve been eyeing something lately, check whether they have a Nurses Week deal to save some money.
Your work days are mostly spent indoors, so it’s not often you get to venture outside and enjoy the fresh air. Studies have found that spending time outdoors, even for just 15 minutes, can reduce stress. So, instead of hanging out in the breakroom, step outside for a short walk or sit on a bench and zone out with a book or podcast.
Being on your feet all day long is exhausting. Book a massage, mani-pedi, facial, or hair treatment to treat yourself.
As a nurse, you never stop learning about your profession. In your free time, take a course in something that interests you outside of work. This could be a pottery class you’ve been dying to take, learning a new language, or a photography course. Do something that caters to your interests. It seems like such a small thing, but learning a new skill can feel invigorating.
There’s no shame in celebrating yourself on social media with a humble brag or two. Post a photo of yourself in scrubs with the hashtag #NationalNursesWeek and include an anecdote about your time as a nurse thus far. It’s heartwarming and self-affirming to share your hard work with friends, and it can be even more fun when they write messages of support back.
Go ahead, no one else has to read it. Reflect back on all the wonderful people you’ve met in your career, the skills you’ve developed and honed, and — most important — the lives you’ve changed. Tell yourself how proud you are of you! You can turn this into a fun time capsule by sealing it up and leaving it someplace you’ll easily find later, such as in a desk or nightstand drawer. Then, the following Nurses Week, you can open it up, reread it, and see just how far you’ve come.
Another great way to celebrate your achievements is to protect your assets with medical malpractice insurance. Policies for RNs can start as low as $89 a year. Get a quote today!
Here are summarized answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about Nurses Week.
Nurses Week honors the incredibly hard work of all nurses, past and present. The ANA encourages the focus to be on self-care, recognition, professional development, and community engagement. Expressing your appreciation for a nurse in your life (including yourself!) might include sharing a homemade meal, writing a thank-you note for care you received, engaging in a community event or volunteer activity with them, or attending an interesting seminar together. There are so many ways to celebrate a person’s hard work and the appreciation you feel for them, so do what comes naturally.
Let your imagination guide you when picking a gift for that unique nurse in your life. Search Etsy or Amazon to find a number of creative ideas for nurses, or think back to past gifts you know your nurse liked. Consider gifts of time, too, such as babysitting while they enjoy some alone time or using a special skill you have to help them complete a goal that matters to them. The main idea is to show your appreciation for nurses in your community and the often demanding work they do to help others.
Nurses Week runs from May 6th to May 12th. This is because in 1982, after heavy lobbying from the ANA, nurses, and legislature, the U.S. government declared May 6th as National Recognition Day for Nurses. But in 1992 when the ANA helped extend the time of recognition to a full week, the organization decided the week would end on Florence Nightingale’s birthday, which is May 12th.
There are many ways you can make Nurses Week fun for your staff while also recognizing their hard work. This includes theme days, potluck meals, dessert bake-offs, guest speakers, group appreciation circles, and group outings. See the sections above for more ideas and longer explanations of ideas for team celebrations.
Image courtesy of iStock.com/Oleg Elkov
Last updated on May 01, 2025.
Originally published on Apr 21, 2022.
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Rachel Murphy is a contributing writer for Berxi. She has a journalism degree from the University of Central Florida and previously worked as an editorial producer for ABC News. Her bylines include INSIDER, Mashable, Elite Daily, Care.com and other publications. She lives in Orlando with her husband, two children, and two English bulldogs.
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