ICN Reveal International Nurses Day 2024 Theme
The ICN (International Council of Nurses) have announced the theme for International Nurses Day (IND) 2024 – Our Nurses. Our Future. The economic power of care. The theme aims to highlight “economic power of care which creates healthy people and societies and drives healthy economies”.
The annual celebration of nurses, which takes places on 12 May (Florence Nightingale’s birthday) and has a theme elected by the ICN – a coalition of over 130 national nursing associations around the world, representing over 28 million nurses working worldwide.
ICN President, Dr Pamela Cipriano, expressed these thoughts on this year’s theme:
“Despite being the backbone of health care, nursing often faces financial constraints and societal undervaluation.”
She also said: “We believe now is the time for a shift in perspective. We have seen time and again how financial crises often lead to budgetary restrictions in health care, typically at the expense of nursing services. This reductionist approach overlooks the substantial and often underemphasized economic value that nursing contributes to health care and society as a whole.”
Dr Cipriano felt that many people, including policymakers, health care administrators, and the general public are often unaware or misinformed about the benefits of adequate funding in nursing. She indicated that lessons had been learnt following the -19 pandemic and that now is the right time to advocate for a “shift in perspective and policy.”
The INC will release a special report on the economic power of care on 12 May 2024. They also appealed for people to promote the power of nursing by sharing and posting the IND logo (available on their website) using the hashtags #IND2024 and #OurNursesOurFuture