This Saturday Shania Twain returns to Saskatoon after a long absence. This Saturday, May 12th, is also Florence Nightingales birthday. Of course she has been absent for a very long time. She died in 1910 but is referred to as the founder of modern, professional nursing. What has this to do with anything? Well, this is National Nurses Week dedicated to acknowledging and honouring nurses for all their hard work and dedication. The theme is #YesThisIsNursing. Side note: I don’t know why everything nowadays has to have that # number sign in front of it but it seems to be the “in” thing to do. Apparently the inspiration for the theme came from the fact that nursing roles are evolving at an exponential rate, particularly with the influence of technology and the expansion of digital technologies. The theme speaks to the expanding traditional and non-traditional roles, settings and sectors nurses work in as well as the unique opportunities for the profession presented by social media and emerging tech trends. I guess in the spirit of the times the theme makes sense. So let’s figuratively tip our hats, or literally if you are actually wearing one, to nurses in salute of the many contributions they make to our well-being.

That’s Coffeetalk. I’m Vic Dubois.