Written by Bronte Mullins
Have you ever had to go to hospital?
Maybe have a needle?
Then you’ve come into contact with just one of the many nurses across Australia and the world. Nurses play many roles in their lives caring for others in their workplace to coming home and caring for their families, loved ones and fur friends.
A nurse has to go to work every day and look after their patients to ensure that they are being cared for and help them on their journey.
What is International Nurses Day?
As nurses have a tough gig, we celebrate them via International Nurses Day which is held on May 12 2023!
The International Council of Nurses (ICN) International Nurses Day chooses to celebrate the amazing work nurses do with this years theme being Our Nurses. Our Future.
The date of International Nurses Day also has significance and was chosen to celebrate the birthday of one of history’s well known nurses, Florence Nightingale.
Who is Aunt Flo?
Florence Nightingale (also known as the Lady with the Lamp, or Aunt Flo) was a nurse during the war in the 1850s where she cared for the wounded and injured in Turkey.
Florence is best known for her hygienic nursing practices during her time as a nurse and the ability of Florence to set up laundry services to ensure the patients bedding was clean.
Florence would walk the halls of the hospital at night with her lamp doing her rounds.
The practices Florence created during this time are still being used in nursing care today however, somewhat more modern.
If you want to read more check out the National Archives, which also helped me get information to write this section on Florence.
![Florence Nightingale. [Photo taken from the National Archives].](https://charlie.csu.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image-4.png)
How do you celebrate IND?
To help celebrate International Nurses Day you may choose to
- Thank a nurse for all they do
- Donate to a charity such as The McGrath Foundation who have Breast Care Nurses
- Wear a mask if you are feeling unwell to protect others
Studying nursing and why I chose this career path
Charles Sturt University offer a Bachelor of Nursing degree both online and on campus. I study on campus in Wagga Wagga but have also completed second session last year via distance education online.
If you are interested in caring for and/or helping people, nursing is for you! The knowledge you gain whilst studying is so amazing, I am only in my first year and have learnt so much already.
After the loss of my father I felt like I wanted to do more with myself, I had worked full time for 3 years as a contracts administrator for a project management firm and felt as though the role wasn’t for me.
So I applied to Charles Sturt in mid May to June of 2022 and began studying nursing online by distance.
After completing my first two subjects I have now moved to studying on campus and absolutely love interacting in class and with other students. I love learning how the body works down to the very minute detail and being able to understand the ways the body functions.
If you are interested in learning more about the history of nursing or want a new podcast to listen to, give Two Humerus Nurses podcast a listen, this episode discusses Florence.
Happy Listening and Happy National Nurses Day for 2023.
