In the UK we don’t tend to have a whole week celebrating nurses and nursing, but rather just the day. That day is today the birthday of Florence Nightingale, and let us just say this is pretty low key. Professions go through different patches in terms of popularity and whether those who are part of it are worthy. My assessment would be that nursing is going through a rocky time right now as it attempts to find its place. Traditionally nursing has been seen to be about caring, about providing a particular type of care for patients but increasingly it has been about developing new skills, perhaps specialising in particular areas and that has led people to question whether nurses have forgotten their roots.

The Royal college of Nursing has a set of pages devoted to Nurses Day this year, within which nurses tell the story of the work they do. Entitled ordinary people, extraordinary care nurses from different backgrounds with different roles tell us about their daily life. Take a look they are worth a read and cover areas of practice many wouldn’t even think of as being roles within nursing.

Sadly it would be my guess that few people in the UK know that it is Nurses Day today, for goodness sake many people don’t even celebrate national days like St Georges day but if you come across a nurse today, perhaps rather than criticising them for perceived wrongs with them and their profession, congratulate them, after all nursing isn’t something that just anyone can do, but then of course I would say that, because I am one!