National Nurses Day – May 6, 2022
National Nurses Day – May 6, 2022
WHEN IS NATIONAL NURSES DAY 2022?
The heart of the healthcare sector is celebrated on National Nurses Day on May 6. Often the first and last person a patient sees during a hospital visit, nurses are truly the rockstars!
HISTORY OF NATIONAL NURSES DAY
National Nurses Day is the first day of National Nursing Week, which concludes on May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday. Yet the week was first observed in the US in October 1954 to mark the 100th anniversary of Nightingale’s pioneering work in Crimea.
In 1953, Dorothy Sutherland of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare sent a proposal to President Eisenhower asking him to proclaim a “Nurse Day” in October of the following year to coincide with the anniversary. Although the President didn’t act, the celebration was observed thanks to a bill sponsored by Representative Frances P. Bolton, and the following year a new bill was introduced to Congress lobbying for official recognition of the celebration.
Twenty years later, in February of 1974, President Nixon proclaimed a National Nurse Week to be celebrated annually in May. Over the next eight years, various nursing organizations including the American Nurses Association (ANA) rallied to support calls for a “National Recognition Day for Nurses” on May 6, which was eventually proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1982.
With over 3 million working nurses in the US today, nurses make up the highest percentage of the US healthcare workforce. Although you might not imagine it, nurses are more likely to sustain a back injury on a shift than construction workers, and they walk an average of 5 kilometers per shift, as caring for others’ health is such an active job!
If you think nurses are only found in hospitals, then think again! The majority of registered nurses (59%) practice elsewhere, such as in a nursing home or on home visits. They work across communities to keep people worldwide happy and healthy, and National Nurses Day is the perfect opportunity to show your appreciation for their important work!
NATIONAL NURSES DAY TIMELINE
268 B.C.
The First Hospitals
Buddhist Indian ruler Ashoka ordered hospitals to be built along the routes of travelers.
October, 1853
Britain’s Secret Weapon
The Crimean War begins, where Florence Nightingale would create the blueprint for modern day nursing.
1873
Nursing Arrives Stateside
The Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing is set up in New York, becoming the first school in the United States founded on Nightingale’s principles.
May 6, 1982
A Day to Remember
The first official celebration of National Nurses Day takes place in the United States.
NATIONAL NURSES DAY AROUND THE WORLD
| Country | Holiday | Occasion | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | International Day of the Doctor | One of the oldest and revered professions in the world is celebrated in Russia. | First Monday of October |
| Canada | FND Awareness Day | A day for raising awareness of Functional Neurological Disorder. | April 13 |
| South Africa | Pregnancy Awareness Week | This observance aims to strengthen pregnancy education and stress important issues that promote a healthy pregnancy and safe motherhood. | February 10–16 |
| Vietnam | Doctors’ Day | Celebrating doctors and their valuable services. | February 27 |
| India | National Deworming Day | The day aims at eradicating intestinal worms also known as Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STH), among children in the age group of 1-19 years. | February 10 |
TRADITIONS OF THE DAY
Always playing a big role in hospitals, the nursing staff is loved and appreciated on National Nurses Day. The most common tradition for expressing gratitude to registered nurses is throwing them a party — inclusive of all shifts. The celebration is hosted by the medical faculty and staff, with some even having fun decorations and nurse-themed cookies and cupcakes.
Volunteers are also active today, putting themselves in a nurse’s shoes to truly appreciate their work. Nurses spend a lot of grueling hours at the hospital, so their stories and encounters are also brought into the spotlight and documented by social media bloggers and storytellers.
The hospital staff and patients generously give gifts and donations to nurses as a token of gratitude for all their hard work. On a larger level, management and leaders within the healthcare sector present nurses with awards and certificates as a symbol of recognition.
BY THE NUMBERS
300 A.D. – the earliest date of the first recorded mentions of nurses.
4–5 – the number of miles nurses walk in every shift.
50% – the percentage of nursing students among the total number of healthcare students.
#4 – the ranking of nurse practitioners on a list of ‘25 best jobs of 2019.’
3 million – the number of nurses in the U.S. as of 2016.
19 million – the number of nurses in the world.
41% – the percentage of registered nurses working in hospitals.
10% – the percentage of male registered nurses in the total workforce.
3.24 million – the anticipated increase in the number of registered nurses by 2022.
$35.24 – the median pay of a nurse per hour.