International Nurses Day 2023 Our Nurses Our Future
The 12th of May marks the anniversary of Florence Nightingales’ Birth, and the International Council of Nurses marks this celebration with International Nurses Day.
According to the International Council of Nurses:
International Nurses Day (IND) is celebrated around the world on 12 May, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. ICN commemorates this important day each year with the production and distribution of the IND resources and evidence. ICN and its national nursing associations members across the world look forward to celebrating nurses and working together to chart the future direction of nursing to meet the needs of the new normal as well as the Sustainable Development Goals, Universal Health Coverage, and Health for All.
Across the world, and more so now than ever before, it seems, the worlds’ health systems are under immense pressure. With the COVID19 pandemic bringing the healthcare systems failures under the spotlight, and although there has been improvement in many countries, the vast majority of the human population are faced with little to no healthcare facilities.
And the nurses and other medical professionals who work in poverty-stricken communities feel the pinch all the time, with not only their job security on the line, but also other pressures such as personal safety, mental wellbeing and job satisfaction, all coming to head and making a Nurses career one rife with challenges.
What is the significance of International Nurses Day?
International Nurses Day is a worldwide celebration, which we use to focus on Nurses sacrifices that they make daily to continue providing their patients with the love and care that they so need.
The A24Group is a proud group of medical recruitment agencies, and for us, this day is about upliftment, gratitude, and one of family and togetherness. We are so unbelievably grateful to our nurses in the field, for their dedication and passion, and for always giving their best. So for us, International Nurses Day is a time for us to reflect on the hard work that our nurses and staff do every day, and of course a time to be thankful for the nurses we have on Staff.
We understand the challenges which Medical Staff face daily, and it is due to these challenges that the A24group of medical staffing agencies was started all those years ago.
A24Group Commitment to Nurses this Nurses Day
The A24Group is committed to:
Providing our staff with opportunities to learn more, upskill and continually develop their skills
Ensure our compliance is always top notch – guiding and assisting our staff via email, phone and WhatsApp to ensure they are earning the best rates per shift
Assisting with payments of registration fees and so much more – this service provides our staff with a simple solution to ensuring their local authorities registrations are valid and up to date
24/7 Support and guidance - to ensure there is help available when you need it most
We negotiate some of the best hourly rates for our staff
We place medical professionals of all skill levels and specialisations
We have a dedicated Staffshift app, which allows staff to browse available assignments in their area, as well as the rates on offer for the shift in question – giving our staff the opportunity to pick and choose which shifts suit them best!
This year's theme for international Nurses Day is Our Nurses, Our Future. And we couldn’t agree more! Visit the INC to learn more about Nurses Day 2023.
Honouring Nursing Heroes
Throughout Nurses Week 2023, we honoured the inspiring stories of nursing heroes from across the world.
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale is responsible for elevating the profession of nursing to an honourable status. Known as “The Lady with the Lamp,” she was a British nurse, social reformer and statistician best known as the founder of modern nursing. Her efforts to reform healthcare greatly influenced the quality of care in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Mary Seacole
Jamaican-born nurse Mary Seacole became a hero during the Crimean War. While Florence Nightingale’s famous military hospital was hundreds of miles from the fighting, Mary was able to visit the battlefield, sometimes under fire, to nurse the wounded. Indeed, she nursed sick soldiers so kindly that they called her ‘Mother Seacole’. Mary Seacole is a great role model. Her values of good citizenship (she always wanted to help the sick and wounded), entrepreneurship (her drive took her to the Crimea under her own steam), and achievement (she remains one of history’s greatest figures) hold true today.
Cicely Saunders
Founded the first modern hospice and, more than anybody else, was responsible for establishing the discipline and the culture of palliative care. She introduced effective pain management and insisted that dying people needed dignity, compassion and respect, as well as rigorous scientific methodology in the testing of treatments. Saunders introduced the idea of "total pain," which included the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of distress. She regarded each person, whether patient or staff, as an individual to the end.
Dorothea Dix
Dorothea Dix drastically changed the medical field during her lifetime by tirelessly fighting to end inhumane treatment for mental health patients. She created the first generation of American mental asylums, and openly challenged 19th century notions of reform and illness.
Elizabeth Fry
Betsy Fry, known as the 'Angel of Prisons', Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to improve the treatment of prisoners, especially in the treatment of female prisoners. She helped the homeless as well, by establishing a nightly shelter in London where volunteers visited the homes of the poor, to provide assistance and comfort. Success led to the plan being copied in other districts and towns across Britain and now all over the world.
Edith Cavell
A nurse and humanitarian, Edith Cavell was born in England. During WWI, she performed her duty as a nurse by helping the wounded soldiers from both sides, and later she was executed for helping and sheltering Allied soldiers. Protests and condemnations echoed around the world following her execution.
Henrietta Stockdale
Sr. Stockdale introduced the first professional training of nurses in South Africa at Carnarvon hospital. She had an unwavering commitment to being a strong leader. She contributed to making South Africa become the first country in the world to make legal provisions for the curriculum for nurses and midwives, approval of training schools, as well as standardized examinations for entry into the register.
Cecilia Makiwane
Cecilia Makiwane was the first African registered professional nurse in South Africa and an early activist in the struggle for women's rights.
Ruth Bomvana
She was fearless and faithful. Ruth paved the future of South African nurses by becoming the first black nursing lecturer in South Africa and one of the country’s top nurses.
Sybrand de Beer
He is the first male nurse to become a matron South Africa, in 1974. He is grateful and honoured for his God given strength which has enabled him to continue to work at the age of 75.
Our Nurses, Our Future: Work with the Best in Nursing Recruitment - The A24Group
The A24Group places over 100,000 hours of healthcare professionals weekly, operating on two continents, with a complement of over 350 recruiters and over 20,000 healthcare professionals. The group looks forward to a future of further opportunity and growth, in support of clients, candidates and patients.
The ultimate recruitment app - Staffshift Benefits
Staffshift is a powerful platform which we use to streamline bookings with our clients, and the staff which we place with them.
The system simplifies placements by syncing geographic locations of skilled Doctors, Nurses and Pharmacists, and the requirements of available jobs around South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Staffshift gives our nursing agency staff the opportunity to see available shifts nearby, which match their qualifications, and if there are additional requirements, it offers candidates clear guidance on what skills or certification is required to earn more per shift. Placing true value and usability in the palm of our Medical Agency Staffs hands.
For Employers – This gives you access to a wide net of qualified, and already cleared to work individuals – Meaning they have already been cleared by an interviewer, as well as our compliance department, having supplied all supporting documents.
For our Staff - All you need to do to gain access to Staffshift, is register to work, and then once your profile is setup, download the app for your smart phone to view availability shifts, the payrates per shift and importantly to update your availability, and communicate with our team via in app chat!
