International Nurses Day, 2021: Occasion honours selfless dedication of nurses worldwide

The world is celebrating International Nurses day today, 12 May to honour nurses for their selfless dedication and service to society. Their role has increased manifold since last year, when COVID-19 struck the world. Nowadays, nurses all over the world are performing their duties non-stop, often risking their own lives. Many people have been saved by them alone, especially in rural areas. As per the International Council of Nurses, more than 1.6 million healthcare workers in 34 countries have been infected by coronavirus till 31 December, 2020. History: In 1953, Dorothy Sunderland, a US health, welfare and education department official, proposed to proclaim a “Nurse Day” to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. However, the idea didn’t get approval. The day was first celebrated by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) in 1965. Since 1974, it is celebrated on 12 May as it marks the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, known as the founder of modern nursing. She was born on 12 May, 1820 in Florence Italy. Credited for being a social reformer and a statistician, Florence started working as a nursing in-charge of the British and allied soldiers during the Crimean War. She established formal training for nurses during her tenure at that time. In 1860, she started the St Thomas’ Hospital in London which was also a nursing school for the students. In 1907, she was honoured with the Order of Merit. Significance: The day aims at honouring nurses for providing continuous high-quality care just like doctors and other healthcare workers. According to the WHO, ‘’nurses account for more than half of all the world’s health workers, yet there is an urgent shortage of nurses worldwide with 5.9 million (2020) more nurses still needed, especially in low and middle income countries". Several Indian political leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Piyush Goyal, Nitin Gadkari and Rajyavardhan Rathore posted tweets thanking nurses on the occasion.