2020: Year of the Nurse
UMSON's Connection to Nightingale
On May 12, 1820, Nightingale was born, and in her 90 years of life, she forever changed the course of health care history. She taught Louisa Parsons, UMSON’s first superintendent, at her Nightingale Home and Training School for Nurses in London, and in so doing, forever changed our own history.
International Year of the Nurse Resources
UMSON proudly celebrates 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and honors the pivotal role that nurses play in providing evidence-based, empathetic health care in Maryland, nationwide, and around the globe.
In commemoration of Florence Nightingale’s 200th birthday, the World Health Organization (WHO) has designated 2020 the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife “to celebrate the work of nurses and midwives, highlight the challenging conditions they often face, and advocate for increased investments in the nursing and midwifery workforce,” according to the organization’s website.
UMSON joins WHO in recognizing that despite two centuries of history as lifesavers, advocates, caregivers, researchers, and educators in the health care sector, our time is now. We face the future embracing the spirit of “Flo,” as we affectionately refer to her, ready to lead.
We will celebrate the Year of the Nurse in conjunction with Nurses Week, May 6-12, 2020.
Q: Why did you become a nurse?
To kick off the International Year of the Nurse, we asked our social media followers to tell us what inspired them to become nurses. A few of their answers are below.
Join us in using hashtag #YearoftheNurse on social media to celebrate throughout the year.