Care to Be Kind: Columbus Students Champion a Kinder World

As we celebrate National Nurses Week, it’s no secret that nurses are caretakers, first and foremost, working tirelessly to make their patients feel calm and comfortable. Genuinely caring about others is what gives nurses the motivation and passion to bring their best to patients every single day.

That’s also why a group at Chamberlain’s Columbus campus is taking care to the next level through the “Commit 2 Kindness” campaign, an effort to bring the local nursing community together and make the world a kinder place to live and learn.

This year, the Columbus campus will launch Commit 2 Kindness to spread an ongoing wave of care – emphasizing that kindness is a mindset that should be central to our everyday lives. Random acts of kindness can range from small to big, anything from helping someone carry groceries to their car, to donating time to volunteer with a community organization.

Professor Jennifer Ross and Nicole Woodby, professional nurse tutor at Chamberlain’s Columbus campus, are the faculty members overseeing the initiative’s launch, which will eventually be led by the Student Nurses Association (SNA).

Woodby said the campaign asks students to perform one random act of kindness on campus and one in the community each week, with the goal of showing students just how much impact their daily actions can make. Working together, Chamberlain students can make a difference in their own campus, their communities, and the world.

SNA Columbus president and Chamberlain student, Jessica Marshall, talked about the significance of the campaign during her speech at Nurses Day at the Statehouse in February. “It aspires to create and preserve a culture of caring on all levels, starting with developing future nurse leaders through small acts of kindness,” Marshall told the audience of nursing organizations and supporters at the Ohio General Assembly.

“This idea was born months ago from a conversation about how important care is to nurses on a day-to-day basis,” said Woodby. “We realize not every profession puts so much emphasis on helping others, and it inspired us to do something about it – on our campus and beyond, to show people how their attitude and actions can make a positive change for those around them.”

Students at the Columbus campus can sign a Kindness Pledge, stating, “I believe that kindness and caring are vital to nursing. I choose to be kind in my interactions with others because what I do matters. I commit to kind interactions with others through at least one random act of kindness on campus and at least one random act of kindness in the community per week. I matter and I choose to make a difference in my sphere of the world.”

“You don’t have to do something big to make a big difference in someone’s day,” Woodby said. “It’s the little things, like giving a stranger your seat on the bus, that make you both feel good. When you’re happy, you’re more likely to spread that kindness to others.”

Get in on the action! Comment below to show your intention to take the Kindness Pledge, and join in on the movement to spread care and kindness to others around.

By Natalie Sobolewski