At NELFT, we wanted to extend our thanks and gratitude and dedicate a whole week of activities to nurses, not just one day. 

As well as the International Nurses' Day theme of the vision of the future of nursing, at NELFT we decided to use United Through Nursing as our anchor to celebrate and support nurses around the globe. Many of our nursing teams held celebrations within their own teams, including coffee mornings and team meetings that reflected on the past year and what being a nurse meant to them.

Taiwo Odukoya is a lead nurse on our Medicines Safety team and they used some time in their team meeting to share what other clinicians value about nurses. Here are some of their messages and quotes:

"For me , it's about placing other people's safety before ours. We are an embodiment of integrity, and compassion."

"This is the quote that comes to mind when thinking of nurses.   The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

"I appreciate their unselfish love for the profession, their strength, patience and passion."

"They have such a positive attitude, even when faced with really difficult and challenging situations."

 

On Nurses' Day, colleagues joined a series of live Zoom sessions with international, motivational speaker Steve Judge. Steve relayed his story where, following a near fatal car accident resulting in both legs being crushed, he was told that he may never walk again. Through setting goals and working towards them he was able to achieve through his rehabilitation and then onwards to eventually become a World Champion in the sport of para-triathlon. 

Understanding and using  'The Wave of Resilience'  helps people to deal with adversity or change, accept the situation and move forward. Our nurses and many colleagues at NELFT have to deal with huge changes and challenging situations regularly, especially over the past year, and these sessions were not only inspiring, but they also gave some useful tips and strategies for all.

Our Executive Chief Nurse, Wellington Makala, held a special webinar, in which staff came together to remember NELFT colleagues that had been lost due to the the pandemic, through a very emotional video. There was also time to reflect and take a look back at the last year. Wellingtion then shared his vision of the future of nursing and how we are looking at new ways that we can attract more people into the nursing profession.

The week of celebrations ended on Friday 14 May with colleagues coming together at NELFT HQ to take on the Jerusalema Dance Challenge. A way to show our unity for our own nurses and those around the world.

If you are interested in finding out more about nursing at NELFT, you can read more here: Nursing at NELFT