The organizers of Butler County Community College’s Kids on Campus program were right on the mark when they planned “The Supers” camp.

Last week at the 22nd annual program, kindergarten and first-grade students went into the nursing department’s training lab, where they’d learn about modern superheroes, otherwise known as nurses.

Of course, the children-centered programming also featured fictional heroes, playing to the imaginations of the youngsters. According to BC3’s website, the four-day program would have children make their own capes, navigate an obstacle course and identify their own “personal hero.” Costumes, too, were encouraged.

But the deliberate inclusion of real-life superheroes, especially nurses, is noteworthy.

First, let’s make clear, nurses have always been heroes. They always have been frontline workers, who make a difference in the lives of their patients.

For most nurses, their job is much more than a job. They genuinely care about their patients, listen to their concerns and answer their questions.

Nurses make decisions that can save their patients’ lives and often don’t hesitate to speak up on behalf of their patient. The list goes on.

And they do all these things with rarely a chance to take a break on their long — 10 or 12 hour — shifts that they work for multiple days in a row.

What nurses did before the COVID-19 pandemic was enough to qualify them as heroes, but over the past year and a half, this crowd has been called to go even further above and beyond.

Rather than balk at the notion, nurses stepped up.

They dressed in personal protective gear and wore masks, putting their own comfort behind the safety of their patients.

When patients couldn’t see their loved ones from the hospital due to visitation restrictions, they set up video calls to connect family and friends. They ensured their patients were able to communicate with their loved ones through technology.

The void that technology couldn’t fill, nurses looked to cover themselves. They sat with patients in need of company. They shared kind and comforting words.

And when needed, they would hold the hands of dying patients.

Further, they saw the effects of COVID-19 firsthand and worked through it. Despite the suffering they witnessed, nurses showed heroic strength. They got up and came to work day after day.

It takes a special person — a hero — to do what these nurses have done.

To introduce youngsters — those in kindergarten and first grade — to the notion that nurses are heroes was exactly the right thing to do this summer.

— TAL