We Care

Inspirational moments in the Omicron Delta Chapter


World Kindness Day ... all year round

World Kindness Day 2023 is a global observance dedicated to promoting and celebrating acts of kindness. This day serves as a reminder of the positive impact that kindness can have on individuals, communities, and the world at large. It encourages people to perform intentional acts of kindness and foster a culture of compassion and generosity.

World Kindness Day was introduced by the World Kindness Movement, a global coalition of kindness organizations, in 1998. It was established to encourage individuals and communities to prioritize kindness and goodwill as fundamental values.  Since then, World Kindness Day has gained recognition and participation from people around the world, making it a day to celebrate and promote positive human interactions.  World Kindness Day 2023 webpage page.

Participating in World Kindness Day is a simple yet impactful way to make a positive difference in the world. Here are ways to get involved:

  • Perform Acts of Kindness: Throughout the day, consciously perform acts of kindness, such as helping a neighbor, complimenting a colleague, or donating to a charity.
  • Spread Positivity: Share uplifting and positive messages on social media to inspire others to be kind and compassionate.
  • Volunteer: Offer your time to volunteer for a local charity or nonprofit organization that aligns with your values.
  • Donate: Make a donation to a charitable cause that you believe in, whether it’s for humanitarian aid, education, or healthcare.
  • Teach Kindness: Educate children and young people about the importance of kindness and empathy through storytelling or classroom activities.
  • Random Acts of Kindness: Surprise someone with a random act of kindness, such as buying a stranger’s coffee or leaving an encouraging note for a friend.

Omicron Delta promotes kindness all year round with a Kindness Campaign

The Kindness Campaign involves giving business card recognition to those who demonstrate gestures of kindness. It is the hope of Omicron Delta that kindness will beget kindness; affirmation will help kindness spread. And we will make a difference in creating a kinder, gentler, more caring world.
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If you wish to give out Kindness Campaign cards, click the pdf template links on our Kindness Campaign page. 

Infusing Joy in Challenging Times

Dear Omicron Delta Nurses,
First of all, I hope you are all staying safe, taking care of yourselves and your families.  As I spend time now under a state mandate to stay home, I have been reflecting on our current Sigma Call to Action. Not only can we Infuse JOY during these critical times, but it is imperative that we find ways to do just that!  We cannot allow social distancing to mean social isolation which, as we all know, is not good for mental health and stress reduction.
Allow me to reflect on the ABCs of the Call...Awareness: Are we aware of how these changes in our normal work and home routines are effecting us personally? Are we aware of our neighbors now that we may not see them out and about? What about friends and family scattered around the country and maybe even the world? We can become aware by reaching out. Balance and Purpose: Every single person in this country is being impacted by changes at work, home, and schools. Those who counted on their work and school contacts, bridge or book clubs, exercise workouts, and especially expressions of religious faith -- regardless of the tradition -- are being forced to face dramatic changes. How are we all coping? Are we able to move beyond just coping to actually find new meaning and purpose in such times? Co-Creation: With awareness and efforts to reach new balance and purpose, we are called to create new opportunities and find ways to break down social isolation while maintaining social distancing.

Remember, it may be the little acts of kindness or simple acts of love that make all the difference in the life of a friend, family member, neighbor, or global colleague. Whoever thought to share a roll of toilet paper could mean so much!!  Please share what you have discovered to bring JOY to others in our discussion.

We are always a nurse, 24/7. So whether you are on the front lines of this epidemic or serving in nursing education to prepare the next generation of nurses, or are retired but feeling the call to build connections amid social distancing, I know you are living LOVE, COURAGE, and HONOR daily from your heart because you are a NURSE. 
With deep gratitude for all you are and all you do...Angie 




Caring for the caregiver: My story and lessons learned

A poem by Renee Lazaro taken from her Reflections on Nursing Leadership article | 12 June 2020
Renee Lazaro, MSN, RN, CNOR, PHN, is an operating room nurse at a hospital in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is a member of Sigma's Gamma Tau at-Large Chapter at the University of California in Los Angeles, California, USA.

It's a different kind of convent we've chosen
It's almost like we leave our old lives behind
Embark on this journey
To learn
To heal
To be...

The person who heard your words even when you don't speak
The one who sits at your bedside, strong and steadfast, when you're too weak
The light when you feel helpless and alone
The calm that lifts and soothes your restless soul
The confessional where you set your secrets free
The sanctuary where no one serves as your judge or jury
The advocate that fights for you when you can't
The strength to uplift you when you need a hand

We give without taking
We care without hesitating 

We put ourselves through rigorous discipline and training
To constantly be better
To give you a better chance for fighting
For surviving

We put your needs before our own
But make no mistake
These angel-like qualities do not make us saints
Nor do they make us warriors
We don't need to make deals with the devil to know that there are demons

We fought to get to where we are
So we could fight for you
We earned the privilege to be there for you
To be there for each other
To see through one's beginning
And carry dignity and respect through one's end

We have shed tears
Sweat
Blood
Countless hours
To do right by you

We have earned the privilege to be in this position that we call
"Nurse"
Florence Then ..... Florence Now

Thank you to our Omicron Delta Chapter President, Angie Strawn




"For a Nurse"

For all those on the frontlines, Thank you.  #omicrondeltaCares
A poem by John O’Donohue taken from his book To Bless The Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings, 2008.

Your mind knows the world of illness, the fright that invades a person, arriving in out of the world, distraught and grieved by illness, how it can strip a life of its joy, dim the light of the heart, put shock in the eyes. 
You see worlds breaking at the onset of illness:
Families at bedsides distraught that their mother’s name has come up in the secret lottery of misfortune that had always chosen someone else.
You watch their helpless love that would exchanges places with her. 
The veil of skin opened, the search through the body’s night to remove tissue, war-torn with cancer. 
Young lives that should be out in the sun enjoying life with wild hearts, come in here lamed by accident and the lucky ones who leave, already old and in captive posture.
The elderly who should be prepared, but are frightened and unsure.
You understand no one can learn beforehand an elegant or easy way to die.
In this fragile frontier-place, your kindness becomes a light that consoles the broken-hearted, awakens within desperate storms that oasis of serenity that calls the spirit to rise from beneath the weight of pain, to create a new space in the person’s mind where they gain distance from their suffering and begin to see the invitation to integrate and transform it. 
May you embrace the beauty in what you do and how you stand like a secret angel between the bleak despair of illness and the unquenchable light of spirit that can turn the darkest destiny towards the dawn.
May you never doubt the gifts you bring; rather, learn from these frontiers wisdom for your own heart.
May you come to inherit the blessings of your kindness and never be without care and love when winter enters your own life.





Heartfelt thank you from Boarder Babies Program...
"On behalf of the Boarder Babies Program of Howard University Hospital (HUH), I extend a heartfelt thank you for the donation of 19 new, washable, handmade blankets from the seven remarkable volunteer blanketeers of the Project Linus Mission. These donations were happily received by 19 infants born at HUH, as a component of our goal to prevent abandoned, abused and neglected children. 
The generosity of each blanket donor is truly outstanding. We are very proud to be the recipient of these blankets and honor those who created each one. Their labor of love meets an important need for many of the babies born at Howard University Hospital."

Project Linus is a non-profit organization that provides homemade blankets to children in need.  Omicron Delta is proud to have been associated with Project Linus since 2013. To date, Omicron Delta has made nearly 300 Project Linus blankets. 




Caring for the caregiver: My story and lessons learned