'Good Day' surprises a special nurse in honor of National Nurses Week

PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - This is a week for giving back to those who save lives every day. It kicked off with National Nurses Day on Sunday, and National Nurses Week runs through Saturday.

On "Good Day Philadelphia," we celebrated the vital role nurses play in a person's health by having Jenn Frederick surprise some nurses Wednesday at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, thanking them for all the work they do!

Claire Alminde, who has been a nurse for almost 30 years, thought she was going to a photo shoot Wednesday.

Instead, Frederick snuck in with flowers and balloons for Alminde, her daughter and a niece, who are also nurses.

"I couldn't be prouder," Alminde said of her daughter and niece following in her footsteps.

"It's such a hard job," she said of nursing. "But I think they knew that their whole lives, because they would hear the stories from here - not only hear it … but they would actually come here with me, or we would go to the Women Against Abuse shelter. And they would come with me and volunteer as 8- and 9-year-olds. So, they knew that part of the job, and they knew the struggles for the patients that we see their whole lives and still wanted to be a part of it."

Alminde added that nurses have heart: "Nurses are the ones that give the cuddles and hugs and love, and when parents aren't here, the nurses stay with the patients. So, I think that's the big difference."