73 Nursing Quotes That Remind You Why You Do This
Nobody talks about the weight nurses carry every single day.
The long shifts, the hard calls, the patients you never forget.
It takes a certain kind of person to keep choosing this path.
If you are that person, these nursing quotes are for you.
Short Nursing Quotes
“Nurses are the heart of healthcare.” — Donna Wilk Cardillo
“A nurse is compassion in scrubs.” — Lexie Saige
“Constant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon.” — Dag Hammarskjöld
“Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation as any painter’s or sculptor’s work.” — Florence Nightingale
“Nurses are a unique kind. They have this insatiable need to care for others, which is both their greatest strength and fatal flaw.” — Jean Watson
“To do what nobody else will do, in a way that nobody else can, in spite of all we go through, is to be a nurse.” — Rawsi Williams
“You must never so much think as whether you like it or not, whether it is bearable or not; you must never think of anything except the need, and how to meet it.” — Clara Barton
“The trained nurse has become one of the great blessings of humanity, taking a place beside the physician and the priest.” — William Osler
“Caring is the essence of nursing.” — Jean Watson
“I attribute my success to this: I never gave nor took any excuse.” — Florence Nightingale
“Nursing is a progressive art such that to stand still is to go backward.” — Florence Nightingale
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” — Mahatma Gandhi
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” — Leo Buscaglia
“America’s nurses are the beating heart of our medical system.” — Barack Obama
“A caress, a smile, is full of meaning for one who is sick. It is a simple gesture, but encouraging; he or she feels accompanied, feels closer to being healed, feels like a person, not a number.” — Pope Francis
“Nursing is not for everyone. It takes a very strong, intelligent, and compassionate person to take on the ills of the world with passion and purpose.” — Donna Wilk Cardillo
“It would not be possible to praise nurses too highly.” — Stephen Ambrose
“How very little can be done under the spirit of fear.” — Florence Nightingale
“Where the needs of the world and your talents cross, there lies your vocation.” — Aristotle
“I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them.” — Clara Barton
“It is not how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing.” — Mother Teresa
“The very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm.” — Florence Nightingale
“Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on Earth to do with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.” — Vincent Van Gogh
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill
“Nurses dispense comfort, compassion, and caring without even a prescription.” — Val Saintsbury
“Never underestimate the power of your voice as a nurse. Advocate for your patients, your profession, and the future of healthcare.” — Donna Wilk Cardillo
“The character of the nurse is as important as the knowledge she possesses.” — Carolyn Jarvis
“Unless we are making progress in our nursing every year, every month, every week, take my word for it we are going back.” — Florence Nightingale
“Unnecessary noise is the most cruel absence of care that can be inflicted on the sick or the well.” — Florence Nightingale
“Nothing will work unless you do.” — Maya Angelou
“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves.” — Marie Curie
“Hardships often prepare people for an extraordinary destiny.” — C.S. Lewis
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” — William Shakespeare
“I did not think of going to give myself a position, but for the sake of common humanity.” — Florence Nightingale
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle.” — Plato
“A nurse will always give us hope, an angel with a stethoscope.” — Carrie Latet
“Bound by paperwork, short on hands, sleep, and energy, nurses are rarely short on caring.” — Sharon Hudacek
“The wound is the place where the light enters you.” — Rumi
“I had faith in myself, in my own powers, as well as in God, and was a far better judge of what was good for me than anyone else could be.” — Mary Seacole
“I longed to be of service to my race, in some way which would justify my being brought into existence.” — Mary Seacole
“The sick and suffering look to us for aid, support, and consolation; it is our duty to administer relief, and to alleviate the physical sufferings of mankind.” — Mary Seacole
“Maybe this one moment, with this one person, is the very reason we’re here on Earth at this time.” — Jean Watson
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” — Dalai Lama
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” — Desmond Tutu
“A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.” — Joseph Joubert
“It is the nurse that the child first hears, and her words that he will first attempt to imitate.” — Quintilian
“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.” — Mother Teresa
“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” — Edward Everett Hale
“Nurses: one of the few blessings of being ill.” — Sara Moss-Wolfe
“Fortune favors the brave, and by God’s blessing I succeeded.” — Mary Seacole
“As a nurse, we have the opportunity to heal the mind, soul, heart, and body of our patients. They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou
“Panic plays no part in the training of a nurse.” — Elizabeth Kenny
“What angels are to the sad, nurses are to the sick.” — Amit Kalantri
“Drugs are not always necessary. Belief in recovery always is.” — Norman Cousins
“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Every nurse was drawn to nursing because of a desire to care, to serve, or to help.” — Christina Feist-Heilmeier
“The nurse is temporarily the consciousness of the unconscious, the love of life for the suicidal, the leg of the amputee, the eyes of the newly blind, and a voice for those too weak to speak.” — Virginia Henderson
“Nursing is one of the fine arts: I had almost said ‘the finest of fine arts.'” — Florence Nightingale
“Nurses are humans by birth and heroes by choice.” — Dr. Renee Thompson
“Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, a touch that never hurts.” — Charles Dickens
“Sometimes I inspire my patients; more often, they inspire me.” — Unknown
“Happiness consists of giving, and in serving others.” — Henry Drummond
“We may not help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” — Ronald Reagan
“Work for a cause, not for applause. Live life to express, not to impress.” — Grace Lichtenstein
“You treat a person, I guarantee you win — no matter the outcome.” — Patch Adams
“Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.” — Khalil Gibran
“Our job as nurses is to cushion the sorrow and celebrate the joy, every day, while we are just doing our jobs.” — Christine Belle
“When a person decides to become a nurse, they make the most important decision of their lives. They choose to dedicate themselves to the care of others.” — Margaret Harvey
“The best nurses have the essential qualifications before they go to school.” — Florence Nightingale
“Save one life, you’re a hero. Save a hundred lives, you’re a nurse.” — Unknown
“A nurse is one who opens the eyes of a newborn and gently closes the eyes of a dying man. It is indeed a high blessing to be the first and last to witness the beginning and end of life.” — Unknown
“When you’re a nurse, you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours.” — Unknown
“Be the nurse you would want as a patient.” — Unknown
