50+ Inspirational Nurse Quotes to Uplift and Motivate Healthcare Heroes

"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

"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

"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

"Caring is the essence of nursing."

- Jean Watson

"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

"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

"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

"Nurses are the hospitality of the hospital."

- Carrie Latet

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

- Florence Nightingale

"Nurses are the heart of healthcare."

- Donna Wilk Cardillo, MA, RN, CSP

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

- Val Saintsbury

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

- Kahlil Gibran

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

- Sharon Hudacek

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

- Florence Nightingale

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

- Florence Nightingale

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

- H. Jackson Brown Jr.

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

- Sharon Hudacek

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

- Shannon Yvette Tanner

"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

"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

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

- Judy Blume

"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

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

- Florence Nightingale

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

- 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; 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

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

- Henry Ward Beecher

"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

"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

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

- Christina Feist-Heilmeier, RN

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

- William Osler

"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

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

- Mother Teresa

"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

"I did not think of going to give myself a position, but for the sake of common humanity."

- Florence Nightingale

"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

"Nothing will work unless you do."

- Maya Angelou

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

- Art Williams

"A nurse is compassion in scrubs"

- Lexie Saige

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

- Carolyn Jarvis

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

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

- Dana Basem

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

- Mahatma Gandhi

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

- Art Williams

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

- Carolyn Jarvis

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

- Carrie Latet

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

- Florence Nightingale

"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

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

- Charles Dickens

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

- Florence Nightingale

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

- Maya Angelou

"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

"Never underestimate the healing effects of beauty."

- Florence Nightingale

"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

"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

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

- 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

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

- Florence Nightingale

"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

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

- Jim Rohn

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

- Mother Teresa

"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

"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

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

- Stephen Ambrose

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

- Patch Adams

"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

"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

"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

"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

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

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"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

"Unless we are making progress in our nursing every year, every month, every week, take my word for it we are going back."

- 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

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

- Mother Teresa

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

- Rawsi Williams, JD, BSN, RN, PhD

"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

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

- Florence Nightingale

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

- Benjamin Spock

"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

"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

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

- John Maxwell

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

- Louise Hay

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

- Marie Curie

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

- Henry Drummond

"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

"A nurse is compassion in scrubs."

- Lexie Saige

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

- Plato

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

- Plato

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

- Florence Nightingale

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

- Earl Nightingale

"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

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

- Vaughn J. Featherstone

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

- Chinese proverb

"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

"I think a hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people."

- Maya Angelou

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

- Pablo Picasso

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

- Estée Lauder

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

- Florence Nightingale

"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

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

- Confucius

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

- Anthony J. D’Angelo

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

- Nelson Mandela

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

- Dag Hammarskjold

"Let us fill our hearts with our own compassion – towards ourselves and towards all living beings."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

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

- 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

"May we hope that, when we are all dead and gone, leaders will arise who have been personally experienced in the hard, practical work, the difficulties, and the joys of organizing nursing reforms and who will lead far beyond anything we have done!"

- Florence Nightingale

"Kindness can transform someone's dark moment with a blaze of light. You'll never know how much your caring matters. Make a difference for another today."

- Amy Leigh Mercree

"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

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

- Muhammad Ali

"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

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

- Winston Churchill

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

- Aristotle

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

- Jodi Picoult

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

- Gary Veale, RN

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

- Henry David Thoreau

"Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings."

- Salvador Dali

"Hardships often prepare people for an extraordinary destiny."

- C.S. Lewis

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

- Sara Moss-Wolfe

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

- Henry Drummond

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

- Elizabeth Kenny

"I didn't want just any career, so I am not going to be just any nurse."

- Denise Richards

"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

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

- St. Francis of Assisi

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

- Florence Nightingale

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

- Win Borden

"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

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

- Hunter Doherty “Patch” Adams

"The best nurses have the essential qualifications before they go to school."

- Florence Nightingale

"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

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

- Quintilian

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

- Ian Miller

"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

"Every nurse ought to be careful to wash her hands very frequently during the day. If her face, too, so much the better."

- Florence Nightingale

"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

"man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than this – ‘devoted and obedient.’ This definition would do just as well for a porter. It might even do for a horse. It would not do for a policeman."

- Florence Nightingale

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

- Harold Kushner

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

- Rupi Kaur

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

- Dr. Seuss

"Live life when you have it. Life is a splendid gift-there is nothing small about it."

- Florence Nightingale

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

- Gerhard Kocher

"How can anybody hate nurses? Nobody hates nurses. The only time you hate a nurse is when they’re giving you an enema."

- Warren Beatty

"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."

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

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

- Unknown

"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

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

- Unknown

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

- Unknown

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

- Unknown

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

- Unknown

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

"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

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

- Unknown

"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

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

- Unknown

"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

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

- Unknown

"You think Mondays are bad? Try working weekends, holidays and 12 hour nights"

"I came, I cared, I charted"

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

"Every nurse has a best friend, Pam: LorazePAM, DiazePAM, and ClonazePAM."

"Be nice to your nurse. They dispense happy pills"

"I love being a nurse, but I mostly love wearing scrubs. They’re basically professional pajamas."

"Being a nurse is weird: I can keep a poker face through trauma, but have a mental breakdown over losing my favorite pen."

"Don’t mess with me—I get paid to stab people with sharp objects."

"Yes, I’m a nurse. I stab people for a living!"

"Sleep all day, nurse all night."

"Yes, I am a nurse. No, I don’t want to look at it."

"I’m one shift away from developing a drug habit."

"No, RN does not stand for ‘Refreshments and Narcotics.”"

"You know you’re a nurse if you can drink a pot of coffee and go directly to sleep."

"Be nice to the nurses, we keep the doctor from accidentally killing you."

"Laughter is not the best medicine… Propofol is!"

"May your scrubs be comfy, your coffee be strong, and your Monday be short."