International Nurses Day

International Nurses Day, observed on May 12th, honors the nursing profession worldwide and is marked on the birthday of Florence Nightingale, widely regarded as the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale rose to prominence during the Crimean War in the 1850s, where she organized a team of nurses to care for wounded British soldiers, dramatically improving sanitation practices and record-keeping that significantly reduced mortality rates in military hospitals. Her subsequent writings and advocacy helped establish nursing as a respected, formally trained profession grounded in evidence-based practice rather than merely informal caregiving, and she founded a nursing school in London in 1860 that became a model for professional nursing education worldwide. The International Council of Nurses, a federation of national nurses' associations, has organized the global observance since 1965, using the day to highlight the immense value nurses provide to healthcare systems worldwide and to draw attention to ongoing challenges facing the profession, including workforce shortages, burnout, and inadequate pay and working conditions in many countries. Each year, the International Council of Nurses releases a themed report and advocacy materials addressing a specific issue facing the global nursing workforce. The observance gained heightened public significance following the COVID-19 pandemic, which placed extraordinary demands on nurses worldwide and drew widespread recognition of their essential frontline healthcare role.