It is International Nurses day on Wednesday 12 May and services to celebrate honour the nursing profession will take place all over the world. 

International Nurses Day is celebrated on the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth, to recognise those who are in nurse manager jobs, nurse practitioners, psychiatric, paediatric and any other nursing job. The famous nurse made many reforms to nursing and health care and drastically cut the death rate amongst soldiers in the Crimean War as a result of her hard work, dedication and training of fellow nurses.

Each year, on the day that would have been her birthday, there is a service at Westminster Abbey in London to commemorate Florence Nightingale's life and celebrate the nursing profession. A lamp is taken from the Nurses' Chapel at the Abbey and handed from one nurse to the next during the service. The last person the lamp is handed to is the Dean who then places the symbolic lamp onto the High Altar. This ceremony is done to signify the passing of knowledge from one nurse to another, much like Florence Nightingale did when she set up her Schools of Nursing. It also signifies her nickname 'The Lady of the Lamp'.

Florence Nightingale was buried at St Margaret's Church, East Wellow, in Hampshire and there is a service of remembrance on her birthdate as well as the Sunday after the anniversary of her birthday. Many hospitals, day centres and wards will hold open days, coffee mornings, fund raising events and use the day for health care promotions and to raise the profile of the profession. It is also a day for nurses worldwide to celebrate their profession and unite to take pride in their jobs and show the world the importance of their work.

The International Council For Nurses (ICN) in America started the event in 1965, though it was not officially recognised by the US Government until 1974. Alberta RN magazine states: "National Nursing Week provides an opportunity to celebrate all nursing professions and recognize the diversity and complexity of the roles nurses play. It also gives the public an opportunity to understand and appreciate the contributions nurses make to people's health and well-being."