Each year, we celebrate International Nurses Day on 12 May, which is also Florence Nightingale’s birthday. This year’s theme, Our nurses. Our future. Empowered nurses save lives, highlights the vital role nurses play in delivering safe, high quality care and the importance of investing in and celebrating the profession.
At Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, we marked International Nurses Day through our annual Pride in Nursing and Midwifery event, held on Friday 8 May. The event celebrates our nursing and midwifery colleagues, who make up around 30% of the trust’s workforce.
Throughout the day, attendees heard from colleagues across the trust who shared their experiences, achievements and the difference nursing and midwifery make for patients every day. A highlight of the event was the keynote speech from Acosia Nyanin, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for NHS England, who spoke about her journey from working as a healthcare assistant to her current role.
Jay Dungeni, Chief Nursing Officer at the trust, said: “On International Nurses Day, I want to thank all our nursing colleagues at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals for the outstanding care you provide every day. Your professionalism, compassion and dedication make a real difference to our patients, families and communities.
“It has been a pleasure to celebrate your achievements at our annual Pride in Nursing and Midwifery event, where we recognised the incredible skill, teamwork and leadership shown across our services. I am extremely proud of our nursing and midwifery workforce and deeply grateful for everything you do for our patients and for each other.”
This year’s event was kindly sponsored by Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals’ Charity Nurse Fund, supported by donations from grateful patients who wanted to recognise exceptional nursing care.
