Today is International Nurses Day and I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of the nurses in our Trust for their critical role in caring for our service users. Organised annually by the International Council of Nurses, International Nurses Day celebrates the contribution that nurses make to societies around the world. The date, May 12 is the birthday of perhaps the world’s most famous nurse, Florence Nightingale.
The theme for this year’s International Nurses Day, ‘A Voice to Lead – Nursing the World to Health’, demonstrates how nurses are central to addressing a wide range of health challenges. This is a very apt message in view of the challenging situation we are all facing and our nurses have played a central role in caring for our service users with kindness and compassion, putting their own anxieties aside and providing high quality nursing care.
The COVID-19 pandemic makes us even more aware of the valuable and unique contribution of our nurses and you have received many well deserved, heartfelt thank you messages from colleagues, service users and their families. Thank you to each and every one of you for being there for our service users, carers and colleagues. I reflect daily on the outstanding job you do, your resilience and your ability to adapt to new situations. It is a privilege to work alongside you and I am very proud to lead the BSMHFT nursing team.
On this special day, please join us in thanking all our nursing staff for the incredible job they do.
