Nurses celebrate their special day

THE spirit of Florence Nightingale lives on and the nurses at Port Shepstone Regional Hospital celebrated her legacy with a host of fun and games on International Nurse’s Day on Monday this week. The day is celebrated on nursing pioneer, Florence Nightingale’s birthday. The famous nurse came to prominence nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers and laid the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment, in 1860, of her nursing school at St Thomas’s Hospital in London.

BigBoy Khawula (hospital CEO) said that nurses of the Port Shepstone Regional Hospital and Florence Nightingale had one thing in common -a vision calling for action to make a lasting difference in the world of healthcare.

“Throughout history, nurses have played an invaluable role in the health and well-being of nations, forming the backbone of any nation’s healthcare system. Nurses impact the lives of people when they are most vulnerable, not only through clinical care but also through the compassion they demonstrate when it is most needed,” said Mr Khawula.

“We at Port Shepstone Regional Hospital acknowledge the incredible work done by our nurses and the immense responsibilities they assume in caring for patients. We salute our nurses for the passion, compassion, dignity and respect with which they care for our patients and for their invaluable contribution to South African society as a whole,” concluded Mr Khawula.

At the end of the function, the nurses took the Nightingale Pledge.