Why would the World Health Organisation dedicate a whole year of celebration to Nurses and Midwives in 2020? And why does it matter to us, in our region?

The World Health Organisation has declared 2020 the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, presenting a unique opportunity to recognise and showcase the vital work and contributions of nurses and midwives to patients and to the health system more broadly.

The WHO states that "nurses and midwives are the people who devote their lives to caring for mothers and children; giving lifesaving immunisations and health advice; looking after older people and generally meeting everyday essential health needs. They are often the first and only point of care in their communities."

The International Year of the Nurse and Midwife coincides with the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, who was born on 12 May 1820.

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Florence Nightingale has been described as a caring and trailblazing British nurse, statistician, social reformer and leader of improved health care who is widely regarded as the founder of modern nursing.

Her work is still recognisable in daily aspects of nursing such as hospital ward design and how we directly communicate with our patients.

In keeping with the year's theme, Stawell Regional Health has been, and will be, recognising our past, present and future nursing and midwifery leaders and share stories of some of our many outstanding nurses throughout the year.

The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted and delayed many of our original plans for a number of much higher profile events, but the disease and its impact on society almost surreptitiously became the main vehicle to focus our attention on the role of our nurses in health care provision.

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) registration information for January 2020 to 31 March 2020 tells us there are 393,916 nurses and midwives registered in Australia; 104,078 in Victoria. A number of these nurses work locally here with us at the hospital, in the Stawell Medical Centre, in our Macpherson Smith Residential Care facility and with the District Nursing Service.

Each and every one of these nurses were challenged on a professional and personal level this year.

They, in conjunction with all other Stawell Regional Health staff, had to deal with dramatic change in their daily work as the pandemic response plans were rapidly rolled out in a quest to keep our community safe.

As one of our nurse leaders said to me: "never before have I had to, within three days, completely change the way we clinically work with our patients".

I am sure I am not alone when I say thank you for doing just that - we know you are doing your job and do not necessarily seek accolades, but without you our health service would not be able to serve our community in the way we do.

Do you have nurse you would like to thank ? Send a message on the form below.