International Nurses Day (IND) is an international day observed around the world on 12 May (the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth) of each year, to mark the contributions that nurses make to society. The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has celebrated this day since 1965.
In 1953 Dorothy Sutherland, an official with the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, proposed that President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaim a “Nurses’ Day”; he did not approve it.
In January 1974, 12 May was chosen to celebrate the day as it is the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Nurses are appreciated in many different ways on International Nurses Day, also called IND. People are encouraged to take time to thank a nurse who has been there for them or their loved ones during days of sickness. The International Council of Nurses (ICN) chooses a new theme for every year and prepares and distributes something called the International Nurses Day Kit. This kit contains educational and public information materials, to be used by nurses everywhere.
In South Africa: South African Nursing Council, is the body entrusted to set and maintain standards of nursing education and practice in the Republic of South Africa. It is an autonomous, financially independent, statutory body, initially established by the Nursing Act, 1944 (Act No. 45 of 1944) and currently operating under the Nursing Act, 2005 (Act No. 33 of 2005).
In the year 2020 we see certain parts of the world where nurses are ill-treated as they do their best to treat including among all other illnesses the corona-virus patients. Some societies just become unreasonably hostile towards the very care-givers who risk their lives saving the world. These are people who work around the clock, once you are a nurse you sacrifice yourself to the world.
May you have a fulfilling and blessed day this year of 2020.
