International Nurses Day: 12 May

International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world on 12 May. It celebrates the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale. The theme for 2019 International Nurses Day 2019 is “Nurses – A Voice to Lead – Health for All”.

An officer with the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare Dorothy Sutherland first proposed Nurses Day in 1953 and was first proclaimed by President Dwight D Eisenhower. It was first celebrated by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) in 1965.