Celebrating all nurses

Today is International Nurses Day, celebrated across the world on 12 May, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, who is credited with pioneering modern nursing. The day acknowledges the dedication, service and vital contribution of nurses.

Here at Epilepsy Society we have an incredible team of nurses who care for up to twenty people with complex epilepsy and provide a 24-hour service. The nurses’ duties range from medication administration to personal care, to supporting people with emotional and physical needs and supporting families and new staff.

Deputy manager at Queen Elizabeth House (QEH), Gemma Lee, wanted to recognise the contribution of her colleagues and arranged for a small celebration last week for International Nurses Day. The team brought in food and shared their thoughts and experiences of all their years of nursing. They worked out that between them, there was over 150 years of nursing experience. 

Gemma Lee said: “The nurses are special to QEH as they support a unique group in our society. It takes an incredible amount of time and patience to look after people with profound learning and physical disabilities let alone complex epilepsy. We have nurses from all over the world working at QEH so the nursing team is very diverse.  

Nurses Day is to celebrate all that we do and all that goes unrecognised. To celebrate the hard work and dedication it takes to be a nurse. It is a day to show respect to the unsung heroes of health and social care. 

Being a nurse isn’t what you do it is who you are, it becomes every ounce of your being and you end up living and breathing caring for people.”