INTERNATIONAL NURSES DAY

Louise Doyle
Director of Nursing

International Nurses Day takes place annually on the birthday of one of our founders of modern nursing ‘The Lady of the Lamp’ Florence Nightingale. Interestingly she came to prominence during the Crimean war where she served as a nurse manager and educator. She was a pioneer in statistics and an exceptional writer. On international nurses day our hospital in Dubai pays homage to this contribution.

Much of her work is still being utilised today in some form or another. In 1860 Nightingale opened the first nursing school in London, this in turn paved the way for more schools and greater prospects for nurses. The profession continued to grow throughout the years. Today nurses can chose many different paths and can choose to pursue a bachelor degree, masters degree and even doctorate degrees at some of the most prestigious Universities world wide and through one of the many streams availed to us.

The nursing profession is among the largest labor pools worldwide and by far one of the most important within the healthcare industry. Despite this advancement into the academic world, nursing is much more than a career and it takes a very special individual to accept and meet the demands of our unique profession.

It takes a great deal of altruism to become a nurse and an even greater degree of bravery and dedication to stay. When the entire world was thrown into shock with the most recent global pandemic, nurses stood firmly on the frontline and had a significant role to play in fighting COVID-19. They worked so selflessly and with a dedication and determination to be admired.

'Not all heroes wear capes' but our nurses deserve the same fame and recognition afforded to so many legends and idols of our times.
Thank you to all the nurses worldwide for the kindness, dedication and unique ability to always put patients first no matter what the circumstances may be. As Val saintsbury said "Nurses dispense comfort, compassion, and caring even without a prescription".

My own nursing team here at Valiant are knowledgeable, dedicated and brave. It is a pleasure leading such an exceptional group of professionals who show up everyday and face the challenges with grace, confidence and skill.

As we celebrate our nursing profession on International Nurses day I would like to encourage not only nurses but the entire multidisciplinary team to reflect on the fact that a day alone cannot measure the hard work, focus and commitment we have to ensuring patient safety and a delivery of care that is evidence based and always puts our patient at the centre of all we do.

Nurses should be celebrated everyday but especially Today. To conclude and in the words of Florence herself "Let us never consider ourselves finished,nurses. We must be learning all our lives"