This article was co-authored by Antoinette Thomas, Chief Experience Officer, Microsoft.

From the once-in-a-lifetime crisis of a global pandemic to cradling a newborn in a NICU or patching up a scraped knee at school, chances are you or someone you know has a story about how a nurse was there when needed most. They’re the ones who race toward an emergency, whether it is an out-of-control virus or a Code Blue call for immediate bedside assistance.

National Nurses Month in May is the perfect time to acknowledge and thank our nursing care professionals for the extraordinary care and dedication they bring to their professions every day.

You’ve got a friend in me The theme of Nurses Week 2024 is Nurses Make the Difference. We think this is the ideal time to bring that theme to life by acknowledging how integral nurses’ expertise and perspective are at all levels of our healthcare systems and in every environment where they are called to serve. From the school nurses who watch over the safety and health of our children and home care nurses who help enable our loved ones to heal at home to clinicians on the frontlines of our medical facilities and the nursing leaders who are helping shape the healthcare system of the future, nurses are integral to our health and well-being.

Microsoft and Avanade are both, at heart, technology companies that want to make a genuine human impact. When we think about how we can support our nurses, we immediately zero in on how our technologies can ease their workloads in ways that free them up spend more time with patients and help them find the satisfaction and sense of meaningful contribution that drew them to the nursing profession in the first place.

Vital to shaping the future of healthcare That’s why this year, in particular, we salute the vital role nursing leaders play at the strategic level, helping our healthcare enterprises make informed and sound strategic decisions about how and where technology can contribute to the health and vitality of their organizations.

It just makes sense. Nursing leaders are the ones who know best how technology can be deployed to ease workload burdens and have the most positive impact on both care professionals and their patients.

During National Nurses Month 2024, Avanade and Microsoft are proud to stand side by side with nurses around the world as we work together to bring the power of our technologies and deployment expertise to fulfill our own mission to “do what matters.”

So, thank you to the entire nursing profession for all you do in difficult circumstances to care for our families and our communities. We see you and we appreciate you.

Note: Would you like to know more about how Microsoft and Avanade are working with healthcare systems around the world to improve operations in ways that support their workforces and improve patient care?

We have real-world projects that we would love to tell you about, everything from translating discharge instructions into a patient’s native language to creating shift schedules in the blink of an eye. Learn more about Microsoft Copilot for Healthcare.

National nurses month 2024: Nurses make the difference