Nurses Week in Ontario: Celebrating the Real MVPs in Scrubs

Published May 12, 2025

It’s that time of year again — Nurses Week (May 12–18), when we honour the superheroes of our health-care system: Registered Nurses (RNs), Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs), and Nurse Practitioners (NPs). Whether they’re saving lives, solving crises mid-shift, or surviving yet another hospital coffee, Ontario’s nurses deserve major love.

This year’s theme, “Raising our voices. Speaking the truth.” (“Faire entendre nos voix. Dire la vérité.”) is a call to action. Nurses aren’t just handing out meds — they’re also demanding better for their profession, their patients, and the crumbling system they work in. From staffing shortages to burnout, they’re telling it like it is, and we’d be wise to listen.

Of course, no Nurses Week would be complete without a few laughs from those who deal with everything from paperwork to, um, body fluids daily:

Nurse Wisdom (And Sarcasm)

“RN” does not stand for Refreshments and Narcotics.
Be nice to your nurse — they get paid to poke people.
“I love being a nurse, but mostly because scrubs are professional pyjamas.”
You can’t cure stupid... but you can sedate it.
Laughter isn't the best medicine. Propofol is.
“Yes, I’m a nurse. No, I don’t want to look at your weird rash.”

This week, let’s celebrate our nurses not just with appreciation posts, but also with real action — better pay, safer workloads, and more support. And maybe a coffee. Or five.

Got a nurse in your life you want to shout out?

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