Interim HealthCare Inc. Launches National Nurses Week Campaign, “The Year of Us”, to Honor Nurses and Legacy of Florence Nightingale

Interim HealthCare executives and owners reflect on their life-changing moments as nurses; company launches history of Florence Nightingale remote learning lesson plan for K-5 children.

SUNRISE, Fla. — Interim HealthCare Inc., the nation’s leading franchise network of home care, senior care, home health and hospice and healthcare staffing services, announced today the launch of “The Year of Us,” a campaign to unify messages of support and gratitude toward the nation’s nurses, including employees of Interim HealthCare and especially those fighting on the front line against COVID-19.

In times of immense gratitude for nurses nationwide, the campaign celebrates and marks National Nurses Week, May 6-12, 2020. To honor the legacy of Florence Nightingale, Interim HealthCare has also launched a remote learning mini lesson plan for parents and educators to leverage with school-aged children.

Interim HealthCare believes the indelible influence left by Florence Nightingale is now timelier than ever as she envisioned the future of healthcare being at home. A trailblazer in the nursing profession, Florence Nightingale’s work set the standards for modern nursing by campaigning for better public health practices, including innovative hygiene, safety and social distancing techniques. She believed in leveraging data and statistics to advocate and advance the science of nursing and helped promote the importance of supplies and what would later include items considered personal protective equipment (PPE). In 1870, Florence Nightingale was quoted saying, “It will take 150 years for the world to see the kind of nursing I envision.” – and here we are, living amid a global pandemic where her vision has become reality.

“As healthcare’s brightest guiding lights, we celebrate the work of nurses throughout the ages and advocate for their profession and their safety on the job,” said Jennifer Sheets, Interim HealthCare Inc. president and CEO. “When patients look into the eyes of a nurse, they often seek comfort, a spark of hope. It is in those exchanges, the hands held and the tears shed, that bring them back to their jobs every day. As a nurse, I know what it is like to have these moments, and they are my motivation to do the best for the healthcare industry to this very day.”

To celebrate the launch of “The Year of Us,” Interim HealthCare is asking nurses, “What’s your #FloMent?” – the defining moment in a nursing career inspired by Florence Nightingale, a time when their career embodied the character, convictions and vision that made Florence Nightingale extraordinary. As a leader in home care services, Interim HealthCare is proud to have a leadership team with more former nurses than any other franchise or home healthcare team across the country. Several of them reflect and share their #FloMents as a deep and heart-felt thank you for nurses, by nurses:

• Darlyn Baker, RN and owner of Interim HealthCare of Bakersfield: “My #FloMent was in 1993. Being a hospital bedside nurse was like a hobby for me. It never seemed like a job. When I realized patients were leaving sicker and quicker and needing to be cared for by their families, I knew I could make a difference. I didn’t know a thing about home health care. I just knew that’s where I needed to be. That is why I established Interim HealthCare in Bakersfield.”
• Jane Hinton, RN, CFE and Chief Clinical Officer at Interim HealthCare Inc.: “My #FloMent is tied to learning and growing and taking on a leadership role in nursing. That’s what Florence Nightingale embodied—she was a nursing leader. Throughout my career, I’ve looked to her as the model for what leadership in nursing should be and I’ve tried to emulate it through nursing education, leadership and advocacy.”
• Sharon Collins, RN, CHPN and Chief Operating Officer of Interim HealthCare of Oklahoma City: “My #FloMent was in a local store, believe it or not. A woman whose father I had cared for recognized me, walked right up to me and hugged me. I sat with her father as he passed away, about five or six years prior. We proceeded to talk about her father, what he meant to her and how much the care meant to her family. As a nurse, I sat with many patients as they transitioned from this life to the next, and it was always special, always intimate. But, something in that moment made a lasting impression on her. It was a beautiful moment to know that something I did meant so much to her family. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is good.’ This is what I was supposed to do.”

Please join Interim HealthCare in expressing our collective gratitude and honoring the nurses who support our communities and the amazing contributions of nurses like Florence Nightingale have given the world. Nurses across the healthcare system are invited to define a moment in their nursing career that was inspired by Florence Nightingale – a time when they were empowered as a nurse, or felt that drive to make a real difference in healthcare using the social media hashtag #FloMent.

Among the many interactive activities planned for the week, nurses may also enter win multiple “The Year of Us” 2020 Nurses Week prizes including a care package with Hand & Stone gift cards for future spa treatments, sweet treats from Nothing Bundt Cakes as well as gear fit for nurses such as industry leading foot wear, a professional nursing bag and other equipment. Please visit www.2020ihcnursesweek.com to enter.

For parents and educators in need of engaging lessons for students (especially for those teaching remote learners), the team at Interim HealthCare developed a mini-lesson plan on the life, work and impact of Florence Nightingale. Her story, particularly relevant for those interested in science, math, and healthcare and for those who want to learn more about role model female leaders, is excellent content to integrate in this week or next week’s learning modules. Easy-to-do and manage-at-home activities include a short biography and video of Florence Nightingale, a discussion guide, ideas for scavenger hunts, games, coloring pages, and more. Materials will be available on the Interim HealthCare Nurses Week website.

For more information on Interim HealthCare’s celebration of Nurses Week, please visit www.2020ihcnursesweek.com.