Nurses' Day 2010

Every day, nurses and their colleagues dedicate their lives to helping others; striving to make a difference to the wellbeing of those they care for.

Tribute to nurses past and present

Celebrated each year on 12 May – Florence Nightingale’s birthday – Nurses’ Day is a tribute to her groundbreaking work and an opportunity to remember the valuable contribution succeeding generations of nurses have made to society since.

Nursing has a proud history at St John Ambulance. The charity's origins can be traced back to the Knights Hospitallers who provided care for the poor, sick or injured in Jerusalem 900 years ago.

Vital members of St John Ambulance

Today registered nurses are vital members of the St John Ambulance team.  As champions of patient safety, they are responsible for ensuring that the charity's excellent clinical standards and high quality of service are maintained. Working with other healthcare professionals and first aid members, nurses ensure the charity’s immediate care services continue to make the difference between a life lost and a life saved.

Steve Hams, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for St John Ambulance said:

'Nurses' Day gives us an opportunity to remember the life and work of Florence Nightingale a pioneer whose work has heavily influenced the nature of modern health care.  St John Ambulance in England and the Islands has over 1,000 registered nurse volunteers, they work as part of a clinical team acting as champions for safety and quality.'

Quality of care

Quality is at the heart of everything St John Ambulance does. Its registered nurses play a vital role in achieving the quality of care that people and communities expect from St John Ambulance.

St John Ambulance know that quality must be seen from the patients' perspective and has three distinct elements:

• Safety
• Effectiveness
• Experience 

Nowhere is this more evident than in such initiatives as the St John Ambulance Sussex Homeless Service sessions in Brighton and Hastings.  Both projects are nurse-led and offer a variety of services to homeless and rough sleepers. These include basic medical and mental health care, support and advocacy to local services, podiatry care, and health education sessions.

The charity's nurses attend duties at all kinds of events across the counties ranging from festivals, fetes, concerts and major events such as the London Marathon.

St John Ambulance is proud to support and celebrate the valuable contribution nurses make to the organisation.