WACO, Texas — Baylor, Scott and White Hospice, and Right At Home Health partnered Monday to celebrate Nurse Appreciation Week. The groups visited several clinics and hospice centers across Waco to bless nurses' hands.
Frances Williams is a Certified Nurse Aide who was blessed at the Regent Care Center. The experience left her overwhelmed with emotion.
"That's awesome, I've never had that experience at a nursing home ever," she said. "I experienced the holy spirit, I know that."
She told 25 News she loves her job but it can be easy for healthcare workers to feel burnt out. Events like this remind them how important their work really is.
"Sometimes we feel that we are getting ignored or that our jobs doesn't matter, but it does matter," Williams said. "We have to be a very strong patient person to take care of residents."
The blessing was performed by Baylor, Scott, and White Hospice Chaplain Larry Holden as a way to show support for their hard work.
"Baylor, Scott and White is very strong in their faith-based," Registered Nurse Teri Nardell said. "They provide a lot of support to the community, to the staff, and they really know we are doing God's work."
"Everything that everyone does in medical care is sacred work and that's why we're doing this," Chaplain Holden said. "We even went to the clinics today and never dreamed that we would have this kind of response. People really like that you anoint their hands with oil, pray over them and thank the Lord for them."
Holden said events like this benefit not only nurses but also himself as he gets to share the work he loves so much.
"Fellowshipping and worshipping God, that's what this is all about," he said. "And sharing this work and service with one another, it's such a blessing. We're not doing it to be blessed, but that's a bi-product and it's a good one."
