On May 12, we celebrate International Nurses Day with the theme of "nursing the world to health." This year's Nurses Day isn't only part of the World Health Organization's International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, but it's even more special because it marks the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. The International Council of Nurses set the theme to focus on the "true value of nurses to the people of the world." One of the myriad ways that nurses positively affect health outcomes is through community/public health (see "Nurses on the Frontline: Improving Community Health" on page 22).
To emphasize the importance of the world's more than 19 million nurses and midwives, it seems fitting to share the following poem sent to us by Hanna Strydom, a nurse educator in South Africa. Thank you all for the amazing work you do every day from the editorial staff of Nursing made Incredibly Easy!
Will I make the choice again?
By Hanna Strydom, RN, CNE, CNM
After so many years of getting up early
Getting dressed when it's still dark and everyone else is asleep
Food being put into my lunchbox without thought
Will I make the choice again?
My fellow nurses, when I see you
Your faces tired from lack of proper rest
I want to touch you, to show you
I see you and I care
Will I make the choice again?
The new nursing students
Bright-eyed and full of expectations
Do you really know what's coming?
Will I make the choice again?
In a day, time just disappears
A patient unexpectedly passes on
When it feels like I'm losing control
Will I make the choice again?
An older person with eyes full of hope
A baby's crying, eating into my soul
They depend on us without real choice
A challenge to address if they can't voice their need
Will I make the choice again?
Why do I doubt myself?
Of course, I'll make the same choice again
To be a nurse and a midwife
This is who I am!