Te 12 o Haratua / 12 May is International Nurses Day!
To the nurses doing incredible and vital mahi worldwide: ngā mihi nui ki a koutou. And ngā mihi nui especially to our amazing nursing team here at The Terrace Medical Centre! We are so grateful for all the important mahi nurses do both within our practice and across the motu.
Here's part of Te Whare Tohu Tapuhi o Aotearoa / The College of Nurse Aotearoa's statement on International Nurses Day 2026:
"Te Whare Tohu Tapuhi O Aotearoa | The College of Nurse Aotearoa acknowledges and thanks all nurses working in healthcare, education, policy, research and leadership for their commitment and significant contribution to improved access to healthcare, resulting in better patient outcomes.
ICN has announced the theme of International Nurses day 2026 Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives. This focus sends a clear message that to maximize the full life-saving impact of the nursing workforce, we must empower nurses with safe, fair work environments and full nursing practice, influence, and leadership. The theme comes at a critical time, as global health faces unprecedented challenges from workforce shortages, rising health care demands, and increasing effects of conflict and climate change. Nurses continue to sustain care, protect communities, and hold health systems together, often under immense strain, but their work is often not fully recognised or supported.
Nurses are an invaluable addition to care teams - patients and whānau benefit from the skill, knowledge, and approach of a highly experienced nurse in their day-to-day care and long-term management. Nurses and Nurse Practitioners are the most well distributed health care workforce."
And here's the International Council of Nurses' statement on International Nurses Day 2026:
"Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives. Every day, nurses both save and improve lives, and their impact is greatest when they are properly empowered. At a moment of extraordinary global pressure, this year’s IND theme focuses on making the structural changes needed to harness the power of the nursing workforce. Building on the last two IND reports - The Economic Power of Care and Caring for Nurses Strengthens Economies - this new theme highlights the vital role of the nursing workforce to improve health outcomes and deliver the trusted, person-centred primary care that can transform health systems and address our world’s biggest health challenges."
International Nurses Day is held on 12 May to commemorate the birthday of Florence Nightengale - an incredibly important and influential figure in the history of nursing.
