International Nurses Day 2021: Nurses leading the way

Nurses and midwives are at the forefront of immunisation education and delivery in Australia and globally. 

Each year, the month of May has two international days to acknowledge and celebrate the work of midwives and nurses: International Day of the Midwife, celebrated on 5 May, and International Day of the Nurse, celebrated on 12 May, the birthday of Florence Nightingale.

In 2021, the theme of International Nurses Day is Nurses: A Voice to Lead - A vision for future healthcare.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the invaluable contribution of nurses: from working on the frontline caring for COVID-19 positive patients, contributing to the public health response through testing and surveillance to now playing a pivotal role in the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines across Australia. In addition, our nurses continue to provide essential health services to the community.

Associate Professor Nick Wood, Associate Director of Clinical Research and Services at NCIRS, leads a diverse team of nursing staff who work across immunisation delivery, education and research, paving the way for a new wave of vaccine-related clinical research. “Here at NCIRS, we have a passionate team of nurses who are central to the work we do. We see their impact every day, particularly now more than ever before. I want to thank them for their passion, dedication and leadership as we work together through the challenges of this global pandemic.”

We acknowledge the work of all midwives and nurses involved in the delivery of immunisation services in Australia and globally. We would also like to acknowledge our passionate nurses (both past and present) who are involved in diverse work at NCIRS, some of which includes:

• providing specialised advice to clinicians, community and healthcare sector on the COVID-19 vaccination rollout
• contributing to the public health response for COVID-19 pandemic through research, including the COVID-19 in educational settings study, COVID-19 First Few Hundred study and serosurveillance for SARS-CoV-2
• providing specialised immunisation care and advice to clinicians and families through immunisation advice lines and a specialist immunisation clinic
• undertaking active hospital-based surveillance of vaccine preventable diseases and adverse events following immunisation through the Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance (PAEDS) network
• providing leadership in and coordination of vaccine-related clinical research to address gaps in knowledge to inform Australia’s immunisation policy, particularly in the context of COVID-19
• supporting nurses in primary care settings on all aspects of immunisation programs in Australia through the Primary Health Networks (PHN) Immunisation Support Program.

Learn more about the International Nurses Day and how you can support your nursing colleagues here.