International Nurses Day is always very important in my calendar - a day to take time to reflect, celebrate and to be grateful for all the amazing work nurses do every day to care for the public’s health. The IND theme for this year is ‘Nurses a voice to lead - Health for All’ resonating strongly with public health nurses and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all that you do to ‘protect health, prevent avoidable illness and promote wellbeing and resilience’.
As we commemorate the birth of Florence Nightingale, we remember her as a role model for public health nursing - her use of statistics, analytics and application to evidence based practice remains a foundation for public health nursing practice nearly 200 years later. As nurses within PHE and the wider health system we all contribute to implementing the PHE mission statement to protect and improve the health and wellbeing of the population and to reduce inequalities in health and wellbeing outcomes, something that I feel Florence would be very proud of today!
The president of the Intentional Council of Nurses Anette Kennedy, reminds us all that ‘Nurses all over the world every day are advocating for Health for All in the most challenging circumstances with limited resources to deliver health care to those most in need’. Working globally across all specialities and settings, nurses seek to provide excellent care for individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. The reach and scope of nursing practice is both truly impressive and very humbling.
To celebrate IND and the contribution of nurses and midwives globally to improving health and delivering the United Nation Sustainability Goals 2030, we will be hosting an international conference in Liverpool to collaborate and celebrate nursing leadership and practice in caring for the public’s health. We will be posting blogs and using social media to share lots of fabulous work – please do take a look!
Next year has been designated by WHO as Year of the Nurse and we will build on the learning and momentum of IND 2019 and as we celebrate the 200th birthday of Florence Nightingale, we will make sure that nurse’s roles in improving the health of the population are ‘valued and visible’. Do think about how you could be involved and do please share your ideas and fabulous work with us.
