SARASOTA, Fla. — For ICU nurse Diane Campbell, nursing is her passion.
"I love what I do. I wouldn’t do anything else," said Campbell.
But she says the pandemic has been one of the hardest times of her career.
"You go home and you cry. Or when it's quiet and you’re in the car driving home you think of all the people you tried to help and couldn’t," said Campbell.
Campbell works at Doctors Hospital of Sarasota where the first COVID-19 patient in Florida was treated.
"We’ve seen a lot over the last 14 months," said Dr. Todd Haner, chief nursing officer.
Throughout National Nurses Week, caregivers have written messages of hope and inspiration on 300 paper flowers to celebrate nurses.
On Friday, 100 nurses and caregivers planted the flowers in front of the hospital to create a garden of healing.
"All of you are our heroes. You show up every day. You give your best," said Haner.
Haner says the yellow flowers signify hope and the red represent heroes. The 300 flowers will be on display in front of the hospital to reflect on the pandemic and pay tribute to nurses who have worked through it.
"There's so much hope now," said Campbell.
