International Nurses Day

A society can be prosperous if it has enough nurses who are the essential caretakers of society. Nurses are an integral and indispensable part of any system for safeguarding human health. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we realized how extraordinary a nurse's contribution is to society. They have inspired hard work and dedication in the population through their relentless and selfless duty. Thus, International Nurses Day 2021 has gained more significance and is celebrated for the hardworking frontline nurses during such difficult times. 

Every year 12 May is observed as International Nurses Day to thank all the nurses for their dedication and work. 

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Image: Nurses in their uniform 

History Behind International Nurses Day

Let’s know how the celebration of the nursing day date started. Florence Nightingale, also known as the Lady with the Lamp, was born on 12 May 1820 in Florence, Italy. She was named after the city she was born in and belonged to a wealthy family. She was always caring for the sick and the poor around her estate as a child and, by the age of 17, she felt that God wanted her to be a nurse. She studied nursing in 1851 in Germany.

In 1854 when the Crimean war began, Florence supervised a team of 38 nurses in military hospitals. But the hospital was in bad condition, overcrowded, and stinky. It lacked good food, clean beds, clean bandages, and clean water, due to which many soldiers died of diseases. Florence, along with her nurses, improved the condition of the hospital significantly and helped many soldiers survive. The patients called her "The lady with the lamp" since she always visited them at night and carried a small lantern with her. She was also the founder of modern nursing.

The Nightingale School of Nursing was the first nursing school established in London in 1860. Florence Nightingale became the first woman to be given the award of Order of Merit in 1907. She was also the key person behind setting up a training institute for midwives and the inspiration behind celebrating National Nurses Day 2020. 

International nurse day is celebrated on 12 May to commemorate Florence Nightingale, and her selfless service since 12 May is also her birth date. The ICN (International Council for Nurses) shows respect to all nurses by producing and distributing IND (International nurses day) evidence and resources.

Various Themes and Resources Over Different International Nurses Days

The ICN honours the nurses by coming up with a theme each year. Here are some of the nurses day celebration and their pieces over the years:

• International Nurses Day 2021 - International nurses day 2021 had the theme for 2021 resources as "Nurses: A Voice to Lead - A vision for future healthcare.” With this theme, the ICN aims to show how nursing will look in the future. It also seeks to show how the nursing profession would transform the face of healthcare in its next stage.

• International Nurses Day 2020 - The nurses day 2020 had its theme as "Nurses: A Voice to Lead - Nursing the World to Health.” With many fantastic resources like logos, reports, posters, videos, etc., the IDN on international nurses day 2020 has tried to make sure the world hears nurse's voices not just on nurses day 2020 but throughout the year. Through the nurses day theme 2020, WHO (World Health Organization) has tried to highlight the role of nurses as the front-line warriors of epidemics and pandemics. WHO, on world nurses day 2020, also stated that COVID-19 has shown what essential role nurses play in the world. On international nurses day 2020, WHO also stressed that without nurses and other health workers, we could not win battles against outbreaks like COVID-19. Every country's sustainable development goals would not be possible without the nurses. The purpose and importance of universal health coverage are linked strongly with nurses, and on nurses day 2020, this fact has been emphasized.

• International Nurses Day 2019 - In 2019, 12 May international nurses day was commemorated with the theme "Nurses: A Voice to Lead - Health For All.” The aim in 2019 on the nursing day date was to transform how health and wellbeing were approached to achieve health for all. Nurses play patient advocates, provide a spectrum of services, and possess scientific reasoning skills. Hence they are the ideal people to inform and lead health services policy development and decision making.

• International Nurses Day 2018 - "Nurses: A Voice to Lead - Health is a Human Right" was the slogan on the 12 May nurses day celebration in 2018. In 2018, nurse’s day aimed to show how nurses are vital in transforming health systems and health care. They make sure everyone has access to health care, and no one is impoverished due to lack of health care. ICN believes that every human has a right to health. ICN are the flag bearers for access to health for anyone, and nurses are a key part of it. Only through the provision of adequate nurses and healthcare professionals can the human right to health be achieved. By following a people-centric approach, nurses can be the voices of people and make sure that these voices are heard and taken into account while developing health policy, provision, and planning.

• International Nurses Day 2017 - ICN's theme for the nursing day date in 2017 was "Nurses: A Voice to Lead, Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” The nurses designed this resource to encourage, celebrate, and inspire actions to create a healthier world. The aim of 2017 was to raise awareness amongst the nursing professionals about what SDGs stood for and how they were important. That year, the second aim was to make the population, governments, and others who were part of the decision-making processes aware of how nurses were already contributing to achieving the SDGs.

Significance of Celebrating International Nurses Day

Like a doctor or any other health care provider, nurses constantly provide high-quality service, sometimes even without breaks. Sometimes in a crisis, the only health professionals you would see are nurses. WHO states that nurses form more than half of all the health care workers in the world. Despite that, there is a severe shortage of trained nurses all around the world. In 2020 there was a shortage of 5.9 million nurses worldwide, especially in middle and low-income countries.

Nurses have a crucial role in any medical institution as they are critical in providing help and safety in the recovery of patients. Every patient who needs care depends on the nurses, and nurses work tirelessly to identify their needs and protect them.

Nurses also possess several skills and immense knowledge as most of the time, the environment they work in is pretty demanding and highly stressful.

In 2020, nurses' courageous work in the fight against the Coronavirus cannot be overlooked. As a result, 2020 has been declared the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife by WHO. Incidentally, the year 2020 also marks the 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale.

What is ICN, and what are its Objectives?

ICN stands for International Council for Nurses and is operated internationally by nurses and leading nursing institutes. The main aim of ICN is to ensure that sound health policies are maintained worldwide and that quality nursing care is provided for every individual. To celebrate the day, ICN chooses a unique theme each year. Through their resources and evidence, ICN highlights the critical issues of current times and brings to the surface all the great work done by nurses and their impact on society. 

The ICN was created when the telephone had just been invented, and the main form of commute between continents used to be sea voyages. Despite these challenges of distance and communication, ICN was able to bring together a community of nurses from different parts of the world.