100+ Inspirational Healthcare Quotes to Motivate and Uplift

"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

"Nurses are always there; you care for us from the earliest years. You look after us in our happiest and saddest times. And for many, you look after us and our families at the end of our lives. Your dedication and professionalism are awe-inspiring."

- Duchess Kate Middleton

"The people who are on the front lines every day in hospitals, nurses, the people who are running clinics, the people who are taking care of your children, those are the people who are the lovers of the world, are the good of the world."

- Eve Ensler

"The secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient."

- Francis Peabody, American physician

"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

"Caring is the essence of nursing."

- Jean Watson

"The patient experience begins and ends with compassion."

- Jean Watson, nursing theorist

"To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"A nurse will always give us hope, an angel with a stethoscope."

- Carrie Latet

"Most of all, you need moral courage because nursing is about the pursuit of justice. It requires you to stand up to bullies, to do things that are right but difficult, and to speak your mind even when you are afraid. I wasn’t strong like this when I started out. Nursing made me strong."

- Tilda Shalof

"Patients don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"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

"You treat a disease: You win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you win—no matter the outcome."

- Hunter Doherty “Patch” Adams

"I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy, I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it."

- Art Williams

"You treat a disease: you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you win...no matter the outcome."

- Robin Williams, Patch Adams

"It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into doing."

- Mother Teresa

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier."

- Mother Teresa

"Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, a touch that never hurts."

- Charles Dickens

"Every nurse was drawn to nursing because of a desire to care, to serve, or to help."

- Christina Feist-Heilmeier, RN

"The very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm."

- Florence Nightingale

"Nurses are the heart of healthcare."

- Donna Wilk Cardillo, MA, RN, CSP

"Anybody who fights for human rights or to make this world a better place. Nurses, doctors, teachers: these are the people who deserve the credit these days."

- George Michael

"In healthcare, the experience of the patient is the new marketing."

- David Feinberg, former CEO of Geisinger Health

"To truly improve the patient experience, we must understand the patient journey from the patient’s perspective."

- Jason A. Wolf, President of The Beryl Institute

"Patients don’t care about your policies. They care about how you treat them."

- Barbara Balik, healthcare consultant and author

"Improving the patient experience is not just a nicety. It’s a necessity for survival in a competitive healthcare marketplace."

- James Merlino, Chief Clinical Transformation Officer at Cleveland Clinic

"If you want to know how to improve patient care, ask the patients."

- Regina Holliday, patient rights advocate and artist

"Listening to patients is the cornerstone of patient-centered care."

- Don Berwick, former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

"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

"The character of the nurse is as important as the knowledge she possesses."

- Carolyn Jarvis

"Our fingerprints don’t fade from the lives we touch."

- Judy Blume

"The nurse is temporarily the consciousness of the unconscious, the love of life of the suicidal, the leg of the amputee, the eyes of the newly blind, a means of locomotion for the newborn, knowledge, and confidence for the young mother, a voice for those too weak to speak, and so on."

- Virginia Henderson, RN

"When I think about all the patients and their loved ones I have worked with over the years, I know most of them don’t remember me, nor I them. But I do know that I gave a little piece of myself to each of them, and they to me, and those threads make up the tapestry that is my career in nursing."

- Donna Wilk Cardillo

"Let us never consider ourselves finished, nurses. We must be learning all of our lives."

- Florence Nightingale

"America’s nurses are the beating heart of our medical system."

- Barack Obama

"Nursing is one of the fine arts: I had almost said ‘the finest of fine arts.’"

- Florence Nightingale

"You treat a disease: you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you win—no matter the outcome."

- Robin Williams in Patch Adams

"Our job as nurses is to cushion the sorrow and celebrate the job, every day, while we are ‘just doing our jobs.’"

- Christine Belle

"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway."

- Earl Nightingale

"Hardships often prepare people for an extraordinary destiny."

- C.S. Lewis

"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

"I never dreamed about success—I worked for it."

- Estée Lauder

"Nothing will work unless you do."

- Maya Angelou

"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow."

- Anthony J. D’Angelo

"Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere."

- Chinese proverb

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

- Nelson Mandela

"Although your educational journey may be difficult at times, you will reap the reward of utmost satisfaction when holding your nursing diploma for the first time—and nothing will ever compare to the fulfillment that improving and saving the lives of others will bring!"

- Mikhail Shneyder

"To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle."

- Plato

"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this something, at whatever cost, must be attained."

- Marie Curie

"The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away."

- Pablo Picasso

"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

"The doctors may be mapping out the war games, but it is the nurses who make the conflict bearable."

- Jodi Picoult

"It always seems impossible until it is done."

- Nelson Mandela

"Bound by paperwork, short on hands, sleep, and energy…nurses are rarely short on caring."

- Sharon Hudacek

"We often think of nursing as giving meds on time, checking an X-ray to see if the doctor needs to be called, or taking an admission at 2:00 a.m. with a smile on our faces. Too often, we forget all the other things that make our job what it truly is — caring and having a desire to make a difference."

- Erin Pettengill, RN

"Constant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon."

- Dag Hammarskjold

"It would not be possible to praise nurses too highly."

- Stephen Ambrose

"Nurses are there when the last breath is taken, and nurses are there when the first breath is taken. Although it is more enjoyable to celebrate the birth, it is just as important to comfort in death."

- Christine Bell

"The trained nurse has become one of the great blessings of humanity, taking a place beside the physician and the priest."

- William Osler

"You treat a disease, you win, you lose. You treat a person, I’ll guarantee you’ll win."

- Patch Adams

"A nurse is compassion in scrubs."

- Lexie Saige

"The nurse is temporarily the consciousness of the unconscious, the love of life of the suicidal, the leg of the amputee, the eyes of the newly blind, a means of locomotion for the newborn, knowledge and confidence for the young mother, a voice for those too weak to speak, and so on."

- Virginia Henderson, RN

"To do what nobody else will do, in a way that nobody else can do, in spite of all we go through…that is what it is to be a nurse."

- Rawsi Williams, RN

"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

"Nurses are always there, you care for us from the earliest years. You look after us in our happiest and saddest times. And for many, you look after us and our families at the end of our lives. Your dedication and professionalism are awe-inspiring."

- Duchess Kate Middleton

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. The only way to do great work is to love what you do."

- Steve Jobs

"We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated."

- Maya Angelou

"How very little can be done under the spirit of fear."

- Florence Nightingale

"I think one’s feelings waste themselves in words; they ought all to be distilled into actions which bring results."

- Florence Nightingale

"Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny."

- Mahatma Ghandi

"I attribute my success to this; I never gave nor took any excuse."

- Florence Nightingale

"It is not how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing."

- Mother Teresa

"Confidence is not ‘they will like me,’ confidence is “I’ll be fine if they don’t.” Successful people have fear, successful people have doubts, and successful people have worries. They just don’t let these feelings stop them."

- T. Harv Eker

"Let us never consider ourselves finished nurses....we must be learning all of our lives."

- Florence Nightingale

"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

"It’s okay to learn from every experience, and it’s okay to make mistakes."

- Louise Hay

"If we’re growing, we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone."

- John Maxwell

"Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for fewer problems, wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenges, wish for more wisdom."

- Earl Shoaf

"Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do."

- Benjamin Spock

"The most important practical lesson that can be given to nurses is to teach them what to observe."

- Florence Nightingale

"Nursing is a progressive art such that to stand still is to go backwards."

- Florence Nightingale

"Rejoice in your work; never lose sight of the nursing leader you are now and the nursing leader you will become."

- Sue Fitzsimons

"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

"To do what nobody else will do, a way that nobody else can do, in spite of all we go through; is to be a nurse."

- Rawsi Williams

"The longer I’m in the profession, the more experiences shape my life, the more amazing colleagues influence me, the more I see the micro and macro power of nursing."

- Joni Watson

"Nurses encompasses an art, a humanistic orientation, a feeling for the value of the individual, and an intuitive sense of ethics, and of the appropriateness of action taken."

- Myrtle Aydelotte

"A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself."

- Joseph Campbell

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has."

- Margaret Mead

"Wherever the art of Medicine is loved, there is also a love of Humanity."

- Hippocrates

"I am among those who think that science has great beauty."

- Marie Curie

"Success comes to those who are too busy to look for it."

- Henry David Thoreau

"So never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself."

- Florence Nightingale

"Nurses are the hospitality of the hospital."

- Carrie Latet

"Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the customer gets out of it."

- Peter Drucker

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."

- Dolly Parton

"Being a nurse means to hold all your own tears and start drawing smiles on people’s faces."

- Dana Basem

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment to improve the world."

- Anne Frank

"Where the needs of the world and your talents cross, there lies your vocation."

- Aristotle

"Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world: Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has."

- Margaret Mead

"If you wait to do everything until you’re sure it’s right, you’ll probably never do much of anything."

- Win Borden

"Work for a cause, not for applause. Live life to express, not to impress. Don’t strive to make your presence noticed, just make your presence felt."

- Grace Lichtenstein

"From caring comes courage."

- Lao Tzu

"Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts."

- Winston Churchill

"Remember, nurses are like icebergs. At any one time, you are only seeing what they are actually doing."

- Ian Miller

"Apprehension, uncertainty, waiting, expectation, fear of surprise, do a patient more harm than any exertion."

- Florence Nightingale

"Panic plays no part in the training of a nurse."

- Elizabeth Kenny

"Happiness … consists of giving, and in serving others."

- Henry Drummond

"I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse."

- Florence Nightingale

"If you can’t figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For passion will lead you right into your purpose."

- Bishop T.D. Jakes

"For the sick, it is important to have the best."

- Florence Nightingale

"To do what nobody else will do, a way that nobody else can do, in spite of all we go through; that is to be a nurse."

- Rawsi Williams

"Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings."

- Salvador Dali

"Fill your mind with truth. Fill your heart with love. Fill your life with service."

- Vaughn J. Featherstone

"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

"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

"Happiness…consists of giving, and in serving others."

- Henry Drummond

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose."

- Dr. Seuss

"What you do makes a difference. And you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."

- Jane Goodall

"No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted."

- Aesop

"Some days there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway."

- Emory Austin

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

- Confucius

"The first wealth is health."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Nurses—one of the few blessings of being ill."

- Sara Moss-Wolfe

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow."

- Helen Keller

"Whether a person is a male or female, a nurse is a nurse."

- Gary Veale, RN

"Never give up on anybody. Miracles happen every day."

- H. Jackson Brown Jr.

"Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle."

- Plato

"my health today gives me a better hope for tomorrow."

- Anne Wilson Schaef

"Just so you know, doctors are here to diagnose, not heal. We heal."

- Edie Falco in Nurse Jackie

"The nurse that can smile when things go wrong…is probably going off duty."

- Anonymous

"You can’t fix crazy, all you can do is document it."

- Anonymous

"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

"Nurses dispense comfort, compassion, and caring without even a prescription."

"Nurse: just another word to describe a person strong enough to tolerate anything and soft enough to understand anyone."

"The definition of a nurse: To go above and beyond the call of duty. The first to work and the last to leave. The heart and soul of caring. who will pass through your life for a minute and impact it for an eternity. An empowered individual whom you may meet for only a 12-hour period, but who will put you and yours above theirs."

"When you’re a nurse, you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours."

- Unknown

"Forgive yourself; you are not perfect. Show yourself grace; you are still learning. Show yourself patience; you are on a journey."

- Unknown

"When you feel like quitting, remember why you started."

"Nursing school. One syllabus at a time. One class at a time. One exam at a time. One clinical at a time. Keep going…"

- Unknown

"Be the nurse you would want as a patient."

"A nurse is not what you do. It is what you are… I am a nurse. It’s not what I do, it’s what I AM."

- Unknown

"Value what you do and add value by what you do."

- Unknown

"Sometimes I inspire my patients; more often, they inspire me."

- Unknown

"It’s a beautiful thing when a career and a passion come together."

"When someone is going through a storm, your silent presence is more powerful than a million empty words."

"Nursing: The toughest job you’ll ever love."

- Unknown

"Not all angels have wings … some have scrubs."

"A new nurse gets scared when a doctor yells. An old nurse yells back."

"Why yes I do marathons. It’s called 12.5+ hour nurse shift run 3 times a week."

"Save one person, you’re a hero. Save hundreds, you’re a nurse."

- Unknown

"The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow; do good anyway!"

- Unknown

"Doctors save lives; nurses save doctors."

- Unknown

"Save one life, you're a hero. Save a hundred lives, you're a nurse."

"I’m a nurse. What’s your superpower?"

"Save one life, you’re a hero. Save a hundred lives, you’re a nurse."

"How many nurses does it take to screw in a lightbulb? None, it’s delegated to the nursing students."

- Unknown