Happy Nurses Month!

Happy Year of the Nurse and the Midwife!

The World Health Assembly (part of the World Health Organization [WHO]), declared 2020 as the “International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.“ Why was 2020 chosen for this auspicious recognition? Because it’s the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing!

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**This document contains some affiliate links. See the end of the post for more information. 

Something pretty cool that I found on the web – a rare recording on YouTube of Florence Nightingale’s voice from 1890! 

Every year Nurses Week is celebrated starting on May 6 and ending on May 12 (Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820.) But because of the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife recognition, this year Nurses “Week” extends to the entire month of May, with extra celebrations going on all year long! 

National Nurses Month: May 2020

National Nurses Day May 6        
National Student Nurses Day May 8
International Nurses Day May 12

In tribute to nurses everywhere, major nursing organizations are preparing celebrations for the month of May and all year long. Check out your nursing specialty organization’s website to see what resources they are offering their members. Many are available to non-members, too!

For example, the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) theme for May is Nurses Make a Difference. The ANA is offering weekly free resources available for ALL nurses and nursing students to recognize your service and vital role in healthcare. You do not have to be a member of ANA to participate. 

There are four themes for each week in May to celebrate and recognize nurses and their contributions to healthcare:(descriptions are from the ANA website)

• Self-Care (5/1-5/9): Use this week to focus on yours’ and your colleagues’ mental health and physical well-being.
• Recognition (5/10-5/16): Raise the visibility of the critical work nurses do by honoring nurse heroes, innovators, and leaders.
• Professional Development (5/17-5/23): Nurses’ stories are educational, inspirational, and healing. Effective storytelling is a vital skill. Learn how to find your storytelling voice. Sign up for the free webinar “Magnifying Your Voice – Use Storytelling to Advance Nursing.”
• Community Engagement (5/24-5/31): Help promote nurses’ invaluable contributions by engaging virtually with your community, educating them on what nurses do, and encouraging support for current and future nurses.

Click on the links and join in!

For more information about the history of Nurses Week and how Nurses Week is celebrated in the U.S. and all over the world, see the post I wrote in 2019: Celebrate National Nurses Week! 

If you are interested in recognizing the nurses in your life with a small token of appreciation, you could Google “national nurses week 2020 gifts” for traditional gift ideas and many sites will pop up. And, of course, Amazon has just about everything – gifts for nurses week –  included.

How to Cite this Blog Post (in 7th ed. APA)*: Thompson, C. J. (2020, May 7). 2020: International year of the nurse and the midwife [Blog post]. Nursing Education Expert. https://nursingeducationexpert.com/year-of-the-nurse

 

References (7th ed. APA)*

*Hanging indent doesn’t work on my blog posts, so just know that you need to use a hanging indent for your reference page citations when using APA format.

American Nurses Association (ANA). (2020). About year of the nurse. https://anayearofthenurse.org/about-year-of-the-nurse

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Year of the nurse and the midwife 2020. https://www.who.int/news-room/campaigns/year-of-the-nurse-and-the-midwife-2020

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