Best Nursing Quotes: Funny, Inspirational, & Motivational

• Need a laugh? A cry? Or a little push to get you through the long work day? We’ve got some of our favorite nursing quotes here just for you!
• From the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, to Maya Angelou, Nursing CE Central has handpicked some of the most popular nursing quotes for nurses of all ages!

Are you in desperate need of some motivation to get you through an exhausting shift? Do you need a laugh to help you cope with the non-stop stress? Or maybe you are writing a thank you note to a colleague or a nurse who has taken care of you and you’re unsure of what to say – whatever the case may be, here are some of our favorite nursing quotes! 

Quotes for Nursing Students  

Nursing school is hard, I’ve been there. Even during the most stressful days, remember to take a minute, breathe, and know that you will get through it. Not everyone is meant to be a nurse, but you are. Here are some popular quotes that are for nursing students just like you: 

• “Nursing School is Hard. Sometimes you need a little laugh or motivation to get you through.”
    
• “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

   

• “Forgive yourself, you are not perfect. Show yourself grace; you are still learning. Show yourself patience: you are on a journey.”

   

• “If we’re growing, we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone.” – John Maxwell

   

• “While that’s correct… it’s not the most correct. This is nursing school.”

   

• “Do something every day that scares you.” – Elanor Roosevelt

   

• “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest accomplishment or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” –Leo Buscaglia  

Inspirational Nursing Quotes  

We all need a little inspiration to get us through the days (or weeks) that seem to never end. If you are ever feeling doubtful, these nursing quotes can help remind you why you became a nurse in the first place, and how important your role truly is: 

• “Nurses are the hospitality of the hospital. Nurses dispense comfort, compassion and caring without even a prescription.” –Val Saintsbury
   
• “When you are a nurse, you know that every day you will touch a life, or a life will touch yours.” 
  
  
• “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 
  
  
• “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
  
  
• “You don’t build a house without its foundation. You don’t build a hospital without its nurses.”
  
  
• “As a nurse, we have the opportunity to heal the heart, mind, soul and body of our patients, their families and ourselves. They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou  

Motivational Nursing Quotes  

Everyone needs a little push sometimes. If you’re feeling down on your luck, and not ready for the day that is ahead, check out these motivating nursing quotes to get you back on track:

• “Save one life, you’re a hero. Save 100 lives, you’re a nurse.” 

• “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” – Fred Devito 
  

• “I attribute my success to this; I never gave nor took any excuse” – Florence Nightingale  

• “Hardships often prepare people for an extraordinary destiny” – C.S. Lewis 
  

• “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest accomplishment or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” – Leo Buscaglia  
  

• “If you are struggling today, remember this: You have survived everything you have gone through up to this point. The best day of your life is still yet to come. There are still people you haven’t met, and things you haven’t experienced. You can do this.”  
  
  
• “When you have had a bad day, a really bad day, try and treat the world better than it treated you.” – Patrick Stump 

Funny Nursing Quotes  

Even during the most stressful work weeks, it can be beneficial to fit some comedic relief in between shifts. Check out a few of these hilarious, yet surprisingly accurate nursing quotes: 

• “Don’t mess with me – I get paid to poke people with sharp objects.” 
  

• “Nursing friendships are a different kind of love: like, ‘I’ll hold the butt cheeks while you clean the butt crack’ kind of love!” 
  

• “Laughter is not the best medicine…Propofol is!”  
  

• “Do you want to speak to the doctor in charge, or the nurse who really knows what is going on?”  
  

• “I wear bodily fluids that aren’t mine, I work weekends and holidays, I get screamed at and have my hands in other people’s orifices. Tell me again how hard you work?” 

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