International Nurses Day

International Nurses Day

May 12 is International Nurses Day. This annual observance commemorates the birth in 1820 of Florence Nightingale. Florence Nightingale is the foundational philosopher of modern nursing. The event, established in 1974 by the International Council of Nurses (ICN), also serves to highlight the important role nurses fulfill in health care.

The History of Florence Nightingale

Nightingale became an important figure in nursing in the 1850s during the Crimean War. At that time she was stationed at the Barrack Hospital at Scutari (Üsküdar; now a district of Istanbul), where she headed a group of nurses that cared for injured British soldiers. When she first arrived at the hospital, she witnessed the desperate condition of the facilities. As a result, she imposed strict standards of care and ensured that the wards were kept clean and well stocked with food and medical supplies. Nightingale campaigned for reform in health care and nursing. In 1860 she opened the Nightingale School of Nursing at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London.

The school’s success prompted the establishment of similar training schools for nurses elsewhere. Among these early institutions were a nursing school at Sydney Infirmary and Dispensary (now Sydney Hospital) in Australia. It opened in 1868 and was headed by St. Thomas-trained nurse Lucy Osburn. The Bellevue Training School for Nurses in New York, opened in 1873, and was the first institution in the United States founded on Nightingale’s principles. Lastly, a nursing school in Fuzhou, China, was established in 1888 by American nurse Ella Johnson. The school in Fuzhou, China was that country’s first Nightingale-based teaching institution. These pioneering schools provided a fertile foundation for the subsequent growth and advance of the modern nursing profession.

Nursing is Vital to Healthcare

Each year the ICN commemorates International Nurses Day with the production and distribution of promotional and educational materials. These materials are intended in part to emphasize the dedicated and innovative work performed by nurses worldwide. This is vital not only to the improvement of patient health but also to the advancement of health care on national and international levels. The materials also often serve to raise awareness of issues in the nursing profession itself, including the impact of economic factors and ongoing struggles against inadequate pay and work conditions. Through awareness and action on such factors, nursing professionals hope to fuel growth and to strengthen nursing schools’ resilience to the sporadic and sometimes precipitous declines in enrollment that have characterized admissions patterns in many countries since the mid-20th century.

Promotional and educational activities on International Nurses Day pertain to an annual theme that addresses current issues in nursing. Examples of past themes include Nurses and Environment (1990); Working with the Poor; Against Poverty (2004), and Closing the Gap: Increasing Access and Equity (2011).

In Australia, Canada, the United States, and other countries, International Nurses Day often is part of a weeklong celebration, otherwise known as National Nurses Week.

International Council of Nurses themes for International Nurses Day:

• 1988 – Safe Motherhood
• 1989 – School Health
• 1990 – Nurses and Environment
• 1991 – Mental Health – Nurses in Action
• 1992 – Healthy Aging
• 1993 – Quality, Costs and Nursing
• 1994 – Healthy Families for Healthy Nation
• 1995 – Women’s Health: Nurses Pave the Way
• 1996 – Better Health Through Nursing Research
• 1997 – Healthy Young People = A Brighter Future
• 1998 – Partnership for Community Health
• 1999 – Celebrating Nursing’s Past, Claiming the Future
• 2000 – Nurses – Always There for You
• 2001 – Nurses, Always There for You: United Against Violence
• 2002 – Nurses Always There for You: Caring for Families
• 2003 – Nurses: Fighting AIDS Stigma, Working for All
• 2004 – Nurses: Working with the Poor; Against Poverty
• 2005 – Nurses for Patients’ Safety: Targeting Counterfeit Medicines and Substandard Medication
• 2006 – Safe Staffing Saves Lives
• 2007 – Positive Practice eEnvironments: Quality Workplaces = Quality Patient Care
• 2008 – Delivering Quality, Serving Communities: Nurses Leading Primary Health Care and Social cCare
• 2009 – Delivering Quality, Serving Communities: Nurses Leading Care Innovations
• 2010 – Delivering Quality, Serving Communities: Nurses Leading Chronic Care
• 2011 – Closing The Gap: Increasing Access and Equity
• 2012 – Closing The Gap: From Evidence to Action
• 2013 – Closing The Gap: Millennium Development Goals
• 2014 – Nurses: A Force for Change – A Vital Resource for Health
• 2015 – Nurses: A Force for Change: Care Effective, Cost Effective
• 2016 – Nurses: A Force for Change: Improving Health Systems’ Resilience
• 2017 – Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
• 2018 – Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Health is a Human Right
• 2019 – Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Health for All
• 2020 – Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Nursing the World to Health
• 2021 – Nurses: A Voice to Lead – A Vision for Future Healthcare
• 2022 – Nurses: Make a Difference
• 2023 – Our Nurses. Our Future.