National Nurses Week begins each year on May 6th and ends on May 12, Florence Nightingale's birthday.  As of 1998, May 8th is designated as National Student Nurses Day. Often described as an art and a science, nursing is a profession that embraces dedicated people with varied interests, strengths and passions because of the many opportunities the profession offers. Nurses work in emergency rooms, school based clinics, and homeless shelters, to name a few. We have many roles – from staff nurse to educator to nurse practitioner and nurse researcher – and serve all of them with passion for the profession and with a strong commitment to patient safety.