Published on: May 30, 2026

This year too, Nurses’ Day arrived right on schedule. But as always, our preparations still hadn’t reached anywhere close to completion. Every year we tell ourselves we should plan earlier. Even if the planning never fully comes together, somehow, we always manage to pull it off in the end.

Like every year, we decided on the theme colour, and each of us set out in different directions to get things ready. All this preparation is, in some way, to hear those words of appreciation about us. Because Nurses’ Day is probably the one day when nurses hear the fewest complaints.

For those of us who routinely end up doing every possible duty – electrician, plumber, security, and countless other roles, complaints are never in short supply. If the tap doesn’t work, if the bulb doesn’t light up, if there’s dust on the floor, the nurse somehow becomes the first culprit.

And yet, hearing appreciation like this brings a special kind of joy.

On that day, in everyone’s descriptions, we become pure white angels. Beings with wings and glowing halos. But in other situations, we are sometimes seen as the demoness too. And honestly, there is no point blaming people for that either. When my duties keep stretching endlessly, what fault do the patient caregivers really have? I already do more than what I am capable of.

I’ll also tell you how I learned to kills the demoness within me. One simple word helped me: “No.” Most problems become manageable when we learn to say it where it needs to be said, in the way it needs to be said. And once we learn to set proper boundaries, we have already won half the battle.

If only we could leave behind every burden from the moment we step into duty at 7 a.m. until the moment we leave, and simply walk away without turning back, many of our struggles would become lighter.

But before walking away, there is always one final rush – retracing everything from the beginning to ensure no mistakes have happened. If we have the willingness to learn and the confidence that we can complete our work without error, even the toughest situations become easier to overcome.

Of course, this is only my perspective. If we can stop our personal lives from affecting our professional lives and vice versa, that itself is a victory. If we can hold on only to the good things and learn to identify and throw away what we do not need, that too is success.

This is my eighth Nurses’ Day at Pallium India. Yet even today, it carries the same excitement and energy as my very first Nurses’ Day.

Every year we all try to wear outfits in the colours decided as per the theme. Even for patients, it becomes something beautiful to watch. That is probably the day they get to see us in many different clothes beyond our uniforms.

Cake cutting, lighting the lamp, taking the pledge, sharing food together… the celebration list goes on. For us to feel truly satisfied, there must always be an outing at the end. This year too, we did not change that tradition.

For one whole day, we spent time for ourselves. Even then, some friends still had to stay back and take on duty. Otherwise none of this would have been possible. After all, without a heartbeat there is no life; and without nurses, there is no patient care.

Now we must wait another year to hear these words of appreciation again, to be called angels again.

But before that, there is still so much left to do. So many beautiful memories waiting to be created. So many lives waiting to be filled with beautiful memories. We still have colours to paint into hurting hearts. We still have loneliness to ease. For many, we still need to become their hands, legs, and voice.

And so, here we are, staying awake for you. Ready to walk many more miles beside you.

Happy Nurses’ Day to all Nurses!

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