Inspiring Student Nurse Quotes to Fuel Your Passion

Explore a curated collection of inspirational quotes for student nurses that will uplift your spirit and motivate you through your nursing journey. From the wisdom of Florence Nightingale to the heartfelt words of Maya Angelou, these quotes capture the essence of nursing and the profound impact nurses have on their patients. Whether you're facing challenges in your studies or seeking encouragement to continue your path in healthcare, these quotes serve as a reminder of the importance of compassion, dedication, and resilience in nursing. Dive into this collection and let these powerful words inspire you to embrace your calling and make a difference in the lives of others.

Wisdom from the Masters

"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

Compassion

"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 and work to maintain the health and well-being of the planet."

- Donna Wilk Cardillo

Courage

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

- Florence Nightingale

Learning

"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

Compassion

"A nurse dispenses comfort, compassion, and caring without even a prescription."

- Val Saintsbury

Compassion

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

- Carolyn Jarvis

Integrity

"Caring about others, running the risk of feeling, and leaving an impact on people, brings happiness."

- Harold Kushner

Happiness

"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; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God's spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts."

- Florence Nightingale

Creativity

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

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Success

"Nurses encompass 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

Compassion

"The most important practical lesson that can be given to nurses is to teach them what to observe-how to observe-what symptoms indicate improvement-what the reverse-which are of importance-which are of none-which are the evidence of neglect-and of what kind of neglect."

- Florence Nightingale

Education

"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, a means of locomotion for the infant, the knowledge and confidence of the young mother, and a voice for those too weak to speak."

- Virginia Henderson

Compassion

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

- Florence Nightingale

Growth

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

- Florence Nightingale

Health

"Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."

- Mother Teresa

Compassion

"Nature alone cures. ... what nursing has to do ... is to put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him."

- Florence Nightingale

Health

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth."

- Muhammad Ali

Service

"One person caring about another represents life’s greatest value."

- Jim Rohn

Compassion

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

- Florence Nightingale

Determination

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

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Success

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

- William Osler

Contribution

"Nothing will work unless you do."

- Maya Angelou

Hard Work

"Caring is the essence of nursing."

- Jean Watson

Compassion

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

- Judy Blume

Reflection

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

- Florence Nightingale

Achievement

"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

Compassion

"A nurse is compassion in scrubs."

- Lexie Saige

Compassion

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

- Winston Churchill

Courage

"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

Compassion

"As a nurse, we have the opportunity to heal the mind, soul, heart, and body of our patients, their families, and ourselves. They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel."

- Maya Angelou

Compassion

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

- Mother Teresa

Compassion

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

- Christina Feist-Heilmeier, RN

Compassion

"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

Empowerment

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

- Robin Williams, Patch Adams

Empathy

"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

Perseverance

"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

Gratitude

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

- Nelson Mandela

Education

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

- Mahatma Gandhi

Compassion

"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

Compassion

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

- Florence Nightingale

Learning

"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

Compassion

"Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

- St. Francis of Assisi

Motivation

"Nurses are the heart of healthcare."

- Donna Wilk Cardillo, MA, RN, CSP

Compassion

"We are each made for goodness, love, and compassion. Our lives are transformed as much as the world is when we live with these truths."

- Desmond Tutu

Compassion

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

- Carolyn Jarvis

Integrity

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest accomplishment or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."

- Leo Buscaglia

Compassion

"Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestation of strength and resolution."

- Kahlil Gibran

Strength

"God appoints our graces to be NURSES to other men’s weaknesses."

- Henry Ward Beecher

Service

"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

Compassion

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

- Benjamin Spock

Belief in Self

"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

Compassion

"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

Positivity

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

- Dana Basem

Compassion

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

- Dag Hammarskjold

Health

"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

Compassion

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

- Barack Obama

Empowerment

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

- Mother Teresa

Compassion

"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

Determination

"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

Ambition

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

- Charles Dickens

Compassion

"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

Ambition

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

- Dr. Seuss

Self-awareness

"It is the nurse that the child first hears, and her words that he will first attempt to imitate."

- Quintilian

Education

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

- Earl Nightingale

Aspirations

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

- Ian Miller

Awareness

"The world gives you so much pain, and here you are, making gold out of it – there is nothing purer than that."

- Rupi Kaur

Resilience

"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

Courage

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

- H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Hope

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

- Florence Nightingale

Health

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

- Art Williams

Motivation

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

- Anthony J. D’Angelo

Learning

"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

Personal Growth

"The world is put back by the death of everyone who has to sacrifice the development of his or her peculiar gifts to conventionality."

- Florence Nightingale

Personal Growth

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

- Florence Nightingale

Reflection

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

- Edie Falco in Nurse Jackie

Courage

"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

Reflection

"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

Motivation

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

- Stephen Ambrose

Gratitude

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

- Florence Nightingale

Growth

"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

Creativity

"What angels are to the sad, nurses are to the sick."

- Amit Kalantri

Compassion

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

- Sharon Hudacek

Compassion

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

- Christine Belle

Motivation

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

- Estée Lauder

Success

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

- Art Williams

Motivation

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

- Plato

Compassion

"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

Determination

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

- Henry Drummond

Happiness

"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

Motivation

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

- Vaughn J. Featherstone

Service

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

- Henry David Thoreau

Success

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

- Maya Angelou

Courage

"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

New Beginnings

"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

Motivation

"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

Belief in Self

"Never underestimate the healing effects of beauty."

- Florence Nightingale

Healing

"Nurses are the hospitality of the hospital."

- Carrie Latet

Compassion

"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."

- E.E. Hale

Determination

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

- Florence Nightingale

Creativity

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

- Elizabeth Kenny

Courage

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

- Chinese proverb

Education

"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

Education

"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

Aspirations

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

- John Maxwell

Growth

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

- Aristotle

Aspirations

"And what nursing has to do in either case is to put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him."

- Florence Nightingale

Healing

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

- Jane Goodall

Motivation

"Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings."

- Salvador Dali

Ambition

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

- Maya Angelou

Resilience

"If a nurse declines to do these kinds of things for her patient, “because it is not her business,” I should say that nursing was not her calling."

- Florence Nightingale

Courage

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

- Marie Curie

Knowledge

"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves."

- Marie Curie

Perseverance

"Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words."

- Mahatma Gandhi

Positivity

"There no longer has to be a difference between who you are and what you do."

- Gary Vaynerchuk

Integrity

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

- Florence Nightingale

Courage

"The wound is the place where the light enters you."

- Rumi

Healing

"Drugs are not always necessary, belief in recovery always is."

- Norman Cousins

Belief

"Your heart is the size of an ocean. Go find yourself in its hidden depths."

- Rumi

Personal Growth

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

- Florence Nightingale

Adversity

"We have been dying since we got here and forgot to enjoy the view – live fully."

- Rupi Kaur

Contentment

"The world gives you so much pain and here you are, making gold out of it – there is nothing purer than that."

- Rupi Kaur

Inspiration

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

- Louise Hay

Learning from Mistakes

"Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence."

- Henry David Thoreau

Love

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

- Henry Drummond

Happiness

"Always thank your nurse! Sometimes they’re the only one between you and a hearse."

- Warren Beatty

Gratitude

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

- Win Borden

Courage

"Hardships often prepare people for an extraordinary destiny."

- C.S. Lewis

Adversity

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

- Carrie Latet

Compassion

"I am of certain convinced that the greatest heroes are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs whilst the world whirls as a maddening dreidel."

- Florence Nightingale

Courage

"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

Inspiration

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

- Plato

Compassion

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

- Pablo Picasso

Inspiration

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

- Confucius

Love

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

- Shannon Yvette Tanner

Self-care

"Everything is sketchy. The world does nothing but sketch."

- Florence Nightingale

Awareness

"Life doesn’t begin at graduation. It began when you made the decision to start nursing school."

- Anonymous

New Beginnings

"Nursing would be a dream job if there were no doctors."

- Gerhard Kocher

Ambition

Bite-sized Inspirational Quotes

"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

Belief in Self

"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

Compassion

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

Compassion

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

Empathy

"No matter how difficult the days may get, don’t forget the reason you became a nurse."

Motivation

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

Motivation

"Every nurse has that one patient that they’ll remember forever."

Reflection

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

Aspirations

"Nurses are angels in comfortable shoes."

- Unknown

Compassion

"Always remember your WHY"

Motivation

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

- Unknown

Connection to Earth

"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

Belief in Self

"Nursing is not for the empty of heart…nor the faint of heart."

Courage

"Nursing school is a lot like giving birth… Once it’s over, you tend to forget just how painful the process really was."

Education

"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."

Compassion

"Nurses may not be angels, but they are the next best thing!"

Compassion

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

- Unknown

Self-care

"While that’s correct… it’s not the most correct. This is nursing school."

Education

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

- Unknown

Self-improvement

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

Compassion

"Save one life, you’re a hero. Save 100 lives, you’re a nurse."

- Unknown

Compassion

"Treat the patient as a whole, not just the hole in the patient."

- Unknown

Compassion

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

- Unknown

Inspiration