KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — 2020 has been a year full of a lot of firsts - and health care professionals know that story all too well.
"2020 was designated by the World Health Organization the year of the nurse and midwife," UT College of Nursing Dean Victoria Niederhauser said.
They did that because it marked 200 years since the founder of modern nursing Florence Nightingale was born.
"They wanted to highlight how large of a role nurses played in health care," Niederhauser said.
But little did they know it would also be the year the entire world grappled with a deadly pandemic.
"Across the country and locally our nurses were fighting this battle...the pandemic," she said.
After 40 years in the nursing profession she says she has never seen anything like it.
"It's been an emotional journey, it's been an exhausting journey, it's been a worrisome journey," Niederhauser said.
Miriam Johnston knows what that feels like.
"For nurses there's gonna be a lot of burn out and emotional weight," Johnston said.
Johnston is a registered nurse who had seen the experience first hand.
"More than anything I see them upset with people not taking it seriously," she said.
So what can we do to better support our nurses? For Johnston it is simple.
"Wear your mask, take it seriously," she said.
As for Dean Niederhauser, she wants you to understand that they are everywhere doing everything.
"Our nurses are stepping in when family members can't be at the bedside," the dean said. "It's been a tough road for our nurses."
So if you can, they hope you will understand this.
"I think our nurses deserve as much recognition...and recognition and praise and thanks that we can give them," Niederhauser said.
But also to take a second to remind them that we have not forgotten their work.
"Our nurses are tired and sometimes just saying thank you...we appreciate you goes a long way," she said.