A nurse greets a patient with an elbow bump.
Credit: © 2021 Prostock-studio/Shutterstock.

National nurses week begins today, May 6, 2022. Each year an entire week is dedicated to the hardworking, brave, and caring nurses who take care of sick, injured, and vulnerable patients. If you know or see any nurses this week, make sure to tell them “thank you” for all that they do. The week always ends on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale. Nightingale founded the nursing profession as we know it today.

Born into a wealthy British family in 1820, Nightingale was expected to marry. However, she felt called to help the sick. She led the care of injured soldiers in the Crimean War (1853-1856). From this work, she became a world authority on scientific care of the sick. In 1860, Nightingale used donations of about $222,000 to found the first school of nursing, Nightingale Training School for Nurses at St. Thomas’s Hospital in London. The United States asked Nightingale’s advice for setting up military hospitals during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Nightingale received many honors and became the first woman to be given the British Order of Merit. She died on Aug. 13, 1910.

Nursing is a profession that provides care to the sick, the injured, and other people in need of medical assistance. Nurses perform a wide variety of duties in many settings. Many nurses work in hospitals, outpatient clinics, or other health care facilities. Other nurses work in health insurance companies, research institutions, and pharmaceutical (medicinal drug) companies. Nurses also work in schools, factories, and the armed forces. Nurses may run general health screening or immunization clinics and blood drives.

Patients often get most of their direct health care through nurses. Among their duties, nurses record patient medical histories and symptoms, help perform medical tests, administer treatment and medications, operate medical machinery, and help with follow-up care and rehabilitation. They also provide advice and emotional support to patients and their families.

Nurses educate patients about various medical conditions. They teach patients and their families how to manage illnesses or injuries. They explain home care needs, including diet, nutrition, and exercise programs; physical therapy; and how to take medication. Some nurses work to promote public knowledge about health and health care. They may give public lectures on health and medical topics.

More women serve in the field of nursing than in any other profession except teaching. However, this trend is changing. Until the 1960′s, men made up only 1 percent of professional nurses. By the early 2000′s, men made up more than 10 percent of students enrolled in undergraduate professional nursing programs. Men make up about 6 percent of professional nurses.

Nursing offers satisfaction to those who desire to help others. It also provides a wide range of job opportunities. A capable nurse—especially one with an advanced degree—can generally feel sure of a job. Salaries for nurses are often high compared with those for other professions. A nurse must like people and want to help them. A nurse must also have self-reliance and good judgment. Patience, tact, honesty, responsibility, and the ability to work easily with others are valuable traits. Good health is another requirement.

Nurses have worked tirelessly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, many nurses took care of people sick from COVID-19 and quarantined away from their families and friends to prevent spreading the virus. While nurses always deserve praise and gratitude, throughout the past few years they have been true heroes.

May 17, 2019

If your birthday is in May, your birthstone—the gem associated with the month of your birth—is the emerald. The emerald is a rich green gemstone that is a variety of the mineral beryl. It owes its color to minute amounts of chromium in the crystals. The value of an emerald depends on its color and its freedom from flaws and inclusions (other substances enclosed in the crystals). An emerald with a blue tint is more valuable than one with a yellow tint. Most emerald crystals contain minute fractures, which are sometimes called veils, and various kinds of inclusions. Perfect emeralds are very rare and therefore may be more expensive than diamonds (April’s birthstone).

The emerald, such as this one with a blue tint, is the birthstone for the month of May. Credit: © Carl Frank, Photo Researchers

Emeralds have been used in jewelry and other adornments since the days of ancient Egypt. “Cleopatra’s Mines,” an ancient system of emerald mines, can still be visited in the Wadi El Gamal National Park near the Red Sea coast, east of Aswān. The people of ancient Greece, India, Persia, and Rome also treasured emeralds. The ancient Aztec and Inca civilizations of the Americas did too, mining emeralds in the mountains of modern day Colombia. Today, Colombia continues to produce the world’s finest emeralds. Afghanistan, Brazil, India, Madagascar, Pakistan, Russia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe also produce emeralds.

The emerald is a traditional birthstone for Cancer (June 21-July 22), a sign of the zodiac. It is also a traditional gem gift for the 20th, 35th, and 55th wedding anniversaries. In the past, some people believed emeralds possessed magical powers. According to legend, an emerald in the mouth guarded against dysentery, aided eyesight, and allowed a person to see the future. Emeralds were also believed to reveal the truth (particularly regarding a lover’s fidelity), protect against evil spells, and cure such diseases as cholera and malaria. The bright green color of the emerald is also used to describe such verdant (lush green) places as Ireland (the Emerald Isle) and Seattle (the Emerald City—also an important place in The Wizard of Oz). Thailand’s most sacred religious icon is the Emerald Buddha, an ancient figurine carved from green jade rather than emerald.

According to tradition, a birthstone brings good luck to a person born in its month. Each birthstone also corresponds to a sign of the zodiac. The belief in birthstones may have come from a Bible story about Aaron, the first high priest of the Israelites. The story describes Aaron’s breastplate, which was decorated with 12 precious stones. Early writers linked these stones with the 12 months of the year and the 12 signs of the zodiac. The custom of wearing a stone that represented a person’s zodiac sign probably originated in Germany or Poland in the 1700′s.

May 2, 2018

Fifty years ago today, on May 2, 1968, the closure of a university in the French capital of Paris led to a month of violent protests, occupations, and strikes that shut down the country and nearly led to civil war. The unrest grew out of student grievances and poor wages, but it was part of a larger international cultural movement that rejected many of the customs and traditions of conservative society and government. The events of Mai 68 (May 68) temporarily crippled France’s economy and infrastructure and inspired a new generation of revolutionary spirit.

People march in support of President Charles de Gualle in Toulouse, France, on May 31, 1968. Credit: Toulouse Municipal Archives (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)

The late 1960′s were a turbulent time worldwide, and 1968 in particular was a difficult year. In the United States, the “hippie” counterculture was at its peak, racial tensions increased after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and there were daily protests against the increasingly bloody Vietnam War (1957-1975). In Czechoslovakia, a liberal reform movement known as the Prague Spring was taking place. Many people in France—university students in particular—were inspired to create their own cultural revolution and a more liberal and open society. Chief among student aims were an end to class and racial discrimination and the removal of French President Charles de Gaulle.

Student protests at the University of Paris Nanterre began in March 1968 and the school was shut down on May 2. Students at the Sorbonne in central Paris protested the suburban school’s closure. Police reacted harshly and the Sorbonne was closed as well. On May 6, thousands of students, teachers, and supporters confronted police at the Sorbonne. The police advanced on the protesters with billy clubs and tear gas, and the protesters eventually dispersed. Many people were hurt, and hundreds of people were arrested.

On May 10, some 40,000 protesters attempted to return to the Sorbonne, where they clashed with police blocking the streets. Protesters hurled paving stones, turned over cars, started fires, and erected barricades facing the lines of police. To clear the streets, police eventually charged the barricades, beating protesters and arresting hundreds more people. Much of the Latin Quarter, the neighborhood of the Sorbonne, was badly damaged. In France and elsewhere, people were shocked by the violence and the harsh police actions, and sympathy grew for the protesters.

On May 13, more than 1 million people marched in solidarity with the students in Paris. Prime Minister Georges Pompidou announced the release of arrested students and reopened the Sorbonne. The embattled students occupied the university, demanded changes, and protests continued. Many workers, with their own demands and grievances, followed the revolutionary spirit and occupied their factories. Before long, a general strike shut down French commerce and transportation, and the country ground to a halt. President de Gaulle, who had briefly fled the country, hinted at using the military to restore law and order. On May 30, de Gaulle dissolved the National Assembly and called for new elections in June. De Gaulle’s ruling Gaullist party rallied the president’s supporters and organized large counter-marches in many French cities.

By June, the protesters had won some changes in their universities and factories, and calm was gradually restored. As much as the protesters inspired sympathy, however, they also inspired antipathy among Gaullist supporters. Motivated conservative voters dominated the June elections, cementing de Gaulle in power—at least for a while—and things returned somewhat to normal. In April 1969, de Gaulle asked for constitutional reforms and said he would resign if the voters did not approve them. The French people voted against the reforms, and de Gaulle resigned.