International Nurses Day is an international day celebrated around the world on May 12 of each year, to mark the contributions nurses make to society. International Nurses Day marks the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale. Known as the ‘Lady with the Lamp,’ and considered the founder of modern nursing. Even today she stands as an example of the importance of the profession. On this day we celebrate the hard work and contributions of our nurses by discovering some of their daily challenges and what can be done to help them.
International Nurses Day 2022 Theme
The International Council of Nurses has announced the new theme for International Nurses Day 2022 which is “A Voice to Lead – Invest in nursing and respect rights to secure global health, focusing on the need to protect, support, and invest in the nursing profession to strengthen health systems around the world.
Who is Florence Nightingale?
Florence Nightingale was an English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to fame while serving as a manager of nurses trained by her during the Crimean War, where she organized the tending to wounded soldiers. She gave nursing a highly favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture. In recognition of her pioneering work in nursing, the Nightingale Pledge taken by new nurses, and the Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest international distinction a nurse can achieve, were named in her honour, and the annual International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world on her birthday. Her social reforms include improving healthcare for all sections of British society, advocating better hunger relief in India, and more.
Nightingale was an extraordinary and versatile writer. In her lifetime, much of her published work was concerned with spreading medical knowledge. Some of her speeches were written in simple English so that they could easily be understood by those with poor literary skills.
International Nurses Day: Importance of Health & Nurses especially after Covid-19
COVID-19 has exposed weaknesses caused by underinvestment in health systems around the world. The theme for IND 2022 demonstrates the need to invest in nursing, build a resilient, highly qualified nursing workforce, and protect nurses’ rights in order to transform health systems to meet the needs of individuals and communities now and into the future.
Wrapping up
Nurses are one of the largest and most vital workforces in healthcare. With the ever-changing processes and continuing advances in hospitals, they still need to meet the expectations of both hospital management and patients whilst providing even more complex patient care. Thus, it follows that only by actively addressing challenges raised and faced by our nurses, can we strengthen the quality and safety of our healthcare.
