KAWARTHA LAKES – Amid National Nurses Week, Tiffany Palmer wanted local nurses to be able to smell the roses.
Palmer is a Scentsy, a direct selling company in home and personal fragrance, representative and to give thanks to our local nurses during National Nurse’s Week, she banded together as many customers as she could to raise money to purchase scent circles for the modern-day heroes at Ross Memorial Hospital.
“I chose scent circles as it was something that was a small token of appreciation, they are just a simple circle to put into their cars or trucks to make it smell nice after a long day of smelling hand sanitizer and cleaners,” said Palmer. “Over half of my customers jumped on board without hesitation to give to our local nurses.”
Sherry Wessell, one of Palmers customers, was quick to join forces to show her appreciation.
“Tiffany came up with an awesome idea to treat some of our front-line workers,” she said. “I personally jumped on board right away and offered to purchase more so that we could give more nurses a smile in such hard times.”
According to Palmer, the goal was to sell 20 scent circles but that was surpassed, quickly reaching 50 and eventually hitting 100.
“If I could say something to nurses all over Canada, it’s simple, you’re a hero every day, we see your capes,” said Palmer.
According to Ryan Young, Communications and Public Affairs Officer for Ross Memorial Hospital, the community support for the local nurses has been amazing.
“This year’s National Nursing Week has taken on special importance because our nurses have gone to such great lengths to continue providing exceptional care to our community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “The community has responded in kind with an outpouring of support for our frontline heroes. Whether it be through written or online messages, signs up on front yards, tokens of appreciation, or simply following public health guidelines to prevent the further spread of the virus, it is clear that we are all in this together.”
A new survey conducted by Oraclepoll Research found that of the 2,600 registered practical nurses who belong to the Canadian Union of Public Employees, more than half of respondents said they were coping “poorly” or “extremely poorly” at work over the past year.
Just over 80 per cent reported that their workload had “increased a lot,” and over 90 per cent are worried about bringing COVID-19 home to their families.
As National Nurses Week is coming to a close, the country celebrated their efforts and hardships now more than ever as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on their careers and personal life.
Thank you for all you do from all of us at Kawartha 411.