Celebrating International Nurses' Day 2021

International Nurses’ Day has always been an important date in the Nursem calendar. But this year, it feels more important than ever. Nurses have experienced a year like no other. We’ve seen retired nursing staff returning to work to support their fellow colleagues. Student nurses graduating early to assist understaffed wards. Nurses have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to support the nation when we needed them most – and International Nurses' Day is an opportunity for us all to come together to say thank you!

Here at Nursem, we celebrate nurses every day. With our Nursem Promise, we give a month’s supply of free hand cream to a nurse or midwife for every product sold. This is our way of saying thank you for all you do.

Thanks to your support, this International Nurses’ Day we’ll be completing one of our largest Nursem Promise send-outs. This send out means we’ll have helped 250,000 healthcare professionals through the Nursem Promise!

This is all thanks to your support, and we couldn’t be more grateful to have a community that shares our admiration for all nurses, midwives and other healthcare professionals who dedicate their lives to care for others.

To celebrate International Nurses’ Day, we also wanted to offer our platform for nurses to share their stories and experiences on what it means #ToBeANurse, shining a light on the individuals who truly make a difference. Discover their amazing stories below.

I'm a nurse because... 

If I can bring just a small bit of comfort or light to those going through one of the darkest times of their or their families’ lives, I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be – Emily, St James University Hospital

I want to make a difference. I want the patient to have felt care, humility, and most of all, that they matter – Tracey, Leicester Royal Infirmary

It never fails to excite me. Everyday is different. Every patient is different. However, the care I provide is always the same – Elizabeth, Royal London Hospital

It’s what I always wanted to be. It’s who I am. After 39 years service and working directly with COVID-19 patients this past year, I’m more convinced than ever I wouldn’t want to do anything else – Barbara, Darlington Memorial Hospital

My colleagues are amazing because... 

They’re not just my colleagues, they’re my support network, my mentors, my inspiration, my therapists, my teachers. They are my colleagues, but most importantly, they are my family – Sally, Royal Blackburn Hospital

My colleagues have been brave, supportive and maintained a good humour and determination that I doubt most of them knew they had. I could not be any prouder to work in the team I do – Jen, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children

Our surgery is the leading practice in our area for transgender patient care, and it makes me so proud to work within that team which makes a difference to everyone’s lives, including the LGBTQ+ community – Georgia, GP Surgery

They are blessed with knowledge and skill balanced with intuition and compassion. Working under the pressures of a modern day NHS, and a pandemic, they deliver excellent care. They laugh, cry and console, and keep coming back – Sallyann, Great Western Hospital 

So many people want to thank nurses for caring for them or their loved ones. What's the best way for them to show their thanks? 

To continue the support that we were given during the pandemic post pandemic – Elizabeth, Royal London Hospital

Just a ‘thank you’ – Rona, retired nurse

Just letting the team you appreciate their care – Emma, New Craigs Psychiatric Hospital

A card or letter with their words of thanks, so that they can be read by all members of the team! It’s gutting to know that patients have been discharged and you haven’t been able to say goodbye sometimes! – Emily, St James University Hospital

Help others and be kind – Annemarie

Feel free to share a memorable story of how someone has thanked you for your work as a nurse: 

I nursed a patient who could not speak english or write in english. She wanted to say thank you and got her friend to come to the hospital (who lived nowhere near the hospital) help her write a card to me to say thank you. It was all scribbly and difficult to read, yet It meant so much as I knew she had put so much time and effort into writing and saying thank you to me. I still have it on the pin board in my kitchen. If I feel like I am dreading a shift I look at it to remind myself of why I do my job – Elizabeth, Royal London Hospital

A little girl I cared for when I was first qualified in 2004 made me a Christmas decoration whilst looking after her. I still hang it on my tree every year! A year or two ago I was working in a different part of the hospital and a young woman needed assistance to find where her appointment was. She showed me her letter and it was the little girl all grown up! She said she thought she recognised me! I told her about the decoration on my tree – Rachel, UCLH

We successfully resuscitated a patient and he rings us every day on the anniversary of this to thank us personally for another year of his life – Mary, Emergency Department, Princess of Wales Hospital

One patient I nurses attended ED with a thumb infection. I assisted with a surgical procedure that proved to be painful. I gave support and comfort during the tender parts. Later he asked for a meeting with me, and presented a few days later in full Nepalese military uniform. He thanked me for the words I said to him and voiced that they were the words of Mother Teresa. I had no idea, but he was convinced she had spoken to him through me. He prayed for me and told me that he considered me part of his family. I cried – Sallyann, Great Western Hospital

We'll be sharing more of these amazing stories over the next week on our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Follow us on social to discover more about our Nursem Promise and join in with our International Nurses' Day celebrations.