International Nurses Day

International Nurses Day is celebrated to express gratitude to the millions of nurses who are the backbone of the healthcare systems across the world. May 12 is chosen to celebrate this day as it is the birth anniversary of the selfless Florence Nightingale. The theme for International Nurses Day 2021 is Nurses: A Voice to Lead – A vision for future healthcare. This theme has been chosen for the year to celebrate the dedication, care and selflessness that nurses are known for.

Nurses are always at the forefront of healthcare services, even in epidemics and pandemics, providing excellent quality of care to patients. Be it initial assessment or constant supportive care, they play a silent yet powerful role to heal patients. Did you know that nurses form nearly half of the world’s healthcare workers? According to the WHO, we are 5-9 million short of nurses, more so in low and middle-income countries.

While many countries consider nursing as a profession, it is not so in developing countries where nursing is seen observed as a job. Nurses form an important factor to help countries achieve their Sustainable Development Goals and failing to safeguard their interests will lead to us falling short of these goals.

Here are some ways by which we can uplift the nursing profession in our country and across the world:

• Provide occupational safety for nurses
• Access to mental health support
• timely pay
• Sick leaves and insurance
• Continued training on the job
• Provide financial support and other resources to help them and their families tide over pandemics and outbreaks like covid 19

Let’s pledge to hold our health heroes, our nurses in high regard and strengthen our nursing force. It is time to give nurses the voice to lead to reform the profession in the future.