International Nurses Day 2022

In the Corona pandemic, a fundamental resource in the health care system was hardly spared: nurses in hospitals and care facilities bore one of the greatest burdens of all during the pandemic. In addition, they were exposed to a high risk of infection. Without their efforts, many more people would have died. International Nurses Day highlights their role in the health care system.

International Nurses Day was established in 1965 by the International Council of Nurses (ICN). It is held each year on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale. She is considered a pioneer of modern nursing. In 2022, the ICN has proclaimed the motto "A Voice to Lead - Invest in Nursing and respect rights to secure global health" for this day.

This year, the motto reflects the extent to which the day is fully focused on the pandemic: While many countries are trying to return to a pre-pandemic daily routine, the care situation in hospitals remains difficult. The pandemic not only claimed the lives of nurses in the initial phase, because not enough protective equipment was available and there was also no vaccination yet. Many nurses have now also given up their profession out of exhaustion or frustration, or because the support in politics and society that still existed in the spring of 2020 is lacking.

Furthermore, demographic change will hit the nursing profession twofold in the coming years. More elderly people will need more care, both in hospitals and in nursing facilities or at home. In addition, more caregivers will leave the profession due to age than will join it.

All the more reason, therefore, for us as a society to listen to the voices of nurses in order to keep health systems around the world efficient or to make them more efficient. After all, the nursing professions represent the basis of medical care, without which no effective therapy can be carried out.

Improvements in working conditions are needed to support nurses. Even in the years leading up to the pandemic, a decline in the number of nursing staff was evident. The pandemic exacerbated the problem, with entire wards severely understaffed due to numerous absences. In extreme cases, missing staff had to be replaced by nurses from other disciplines or those who had not yet completed their training. In addition, a fairer payment for nurses is in order, one that does justice to the high responsibility of the profession and the requirements.

Those who want to support nurses can join the campaign around International Nurses Day on social media using the hashtags #IND2022 and #VoiceToLead. Nursing associations, hospitals and unions are also organizing local campaigns to provide political support for the demands of nursing.