10 May 2005

To be released on 12 May 2005:

International Nurses Day – 12 May 2005

Today 12 May 2005 is a day set aside internationally to commemorate nurses. The members of the profession of nursing are committed to serve people whose health status is compromised and to maintain the health status of those that are healthy.

The profession of nursing began humbly with the commitment of Florence Nightingale who sought to tend to and restore the dignity of the sick and injured in the Crimean War. Today nursing has grown into a fully-fledged profession that plays a significant role in health care delivery.

For this day of commemoration the international community has identified the theme “Nurses for patient safety: Targeting Counterfeit and Substandard Medicines”.

Counterfeit and Substandard Medicine is not only costly to consumers, it is a particular serious area of crime because it puts the lives and well-being of patients at risk, leads to loss of confidence in the medical profession, and in the quality, safety and efficacy of the medicine they prescribe.

“Today on this 12th day of May 2005 on behalf of the South African Nursing Council, I pay tribute to the contribution the 177 000 nurses in South Africa make to our health care system”, said Hasina Subedar, the Registrar of the South African Nursing Council. 

We salute those nurses who:

	Work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days of the year to ensure that the health care needs of South Africans are met.
	Provide health care to all, rich and poor, young and old, sick and well, newborn infants and those that are dying.
	Are the backbone of the South African Health care system and carry the burden of providing health care in very adverse conditions.
	Work in rural and remote communities and who are often the only health care provider available to meet the health care needs of these communities.
	Restore the dignity of the sick, the elderly, the young and the terminally ill.
	Have remained in South Africa through their commitment to serve the people of our country.

Issued by the South African Nursing Council in Pretoria.

For further enquiries please contact the Communications Officer at 012 420 1000.

ENDS

© 2004 - 2020 South African Nursing Council (Under the provisions of the Nursing Act, 2005)

Disclaimer