International Nurses Day

May is always an important month of the year for the healthcare sector as it's when midwives and nurses are recognised internationally for the all-encompassing and critical contribution they make to the healthcare system, and to society in general. 

International Nurses Day is celebrated on the 12th of May each year which is the birth date of Florence Nightingale, often referred to as the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale reformed the way hospitals cared for patients, putting patients at the centre of care, insisting on practices that saw hospitals become cleaner and safer, and starting the professionalisation of nursing practice.  While nursing practice has continued to advance and arguably become the backbone of healthcare, according to Dr Pamela Cipriano, President of the International Council of Nursing (ICN), it continues to face financial constraints and social undervaluation.

That is why this year's theme for International Nurses' Day is Our Nurses. Our Future.  The economic power of care.