International Nurses’ Day is observed on May 12, every year, all over the world to honour the contributions of nurses. Florence Nightingale, the English social reformer, statistician, and founder of modern nursing, was born on this day.
Every year, ICN commemorates this significant day by producing and disseminating International Nurses’ Day (IND) materials and evidence. “Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Invest in Nursing and Respect Rights to Secure Global Health,” is the theme for this year’s Nurses’ Day.
Many people believe that doctors are the most important persons in the healthcare system, which is just not true. Nurses, who are responsible for the care, protection, and recovery of patients, are the underdogs of our medical institutions.
Nurses have a vast amount of information and a wide range of abilities that they spend years honing and improving, all while working in extremely demanding conditions where tremendous stress is unavoidable.
Nurses assist in the birth of new life, provide unwavering care for the sick and injured, and occasionally witness patients they tried everything to rescue pass away despite their best efforts.
In 1953, Dorothy Sutherland, a US Department of Health, Education and Welfare official, proposed to President Dwight D. Eisenhower to declare “Nurses’ Day.” He did not, however, accept her proposal at the time. Since 1965, the International Council of Nurses has commemorated the day on May 12th.
On May 12th, the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, who is regarded as the founder of modern nursing is commemorated. It is a significant event for all nurses. This day was finally declared as International Nurses’ Day in January 1974.
The International Council of Nurses, since then, creates and distributes an International Nurses’ Day Kit, which includes educational and public awareness resources for nurses all over the world.
International Nurses Day: Key Facts
- The global nursing and midwifery workforce numbers around 27 million men and women. This represents 50 percent of the worldwide health workforce.
- There is a worldwide lack of health workers, particularly nurses and midwives, who account for more than half of the current shortage.
- South East Asia and Africa have the most critical shortages of nurses and midwives.
- Nurses are essential in health promotion, prevention of illness, and primary and community care delivery. They provide emergency care and will be essential to achieving universal health coverage.
- According to the Indian Nursing Council, the country has roughly 33.41 lakh registered nurses, resulting in a nurse to population ratio of 1.96 nurses per 1000 population.
- Some effective steps taken to increase nursing manpower in India include relaxing the land requirement for building a School/College of Nursing and Hostel, relaxing the student patient ratio for Nursing Institutions from 1:5 to 1:3, relaxing the distance from school to hospital from 15 km to 30 km, and relaxing the eligibility criteria for admission i.e. (Marks) for Diploma and Degree, among others.
