Celebrating a diverse nursing and midwifery workforce

12 May 2020, 13:14

The diversity of Hawke’s Bay’s nursing and midwifery workforce is being celebrated this International Nurses Day, 12 May. 

Hawke’s Bay District Health Board and public health organisation, Health Hawke’s Bay are highlighting the varying roles nurses and midwives work in, from management and operational to frontline positions across hospital and community settings. 

Every year the world joins in marking International Nurses Day in recognition of the important work nurses do on 12 May - the anniversary of Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale’s birthday. Hawke’s Bay District Health Board jointly recognises the work of nurses and midwives, whose national recognition day falls a week earlier, 5 May. This year’s theme is: Nurses: A voice to lead – Nursing the world to health. 

This year is also the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife – designated by The World Health Organization (WHO). 

Hawke’s Bay District Health Board acting chief nursing and midwifery officer, Karyn Bousfield, said nurses and midwives play a crucial role in the health and wellbeing of our community from qualified Plunket nurses who help to nurture the young, to nurses in general practice, aged residential care and other special care facilities to hospital-based care, district nursing and in-flight care. 

“Where care is required you will find a nurse or midwife, reaching out into our most rural areas as well and midwives equally work widely within community and hospital settings as well as management roles,” said Ms Bousfield. 

“Their professions don’t just stop at frontline clinical work either, we have many dedicated former nurses and midwives holding various management, operational, research and teaching roles who do an exemplary job thanks to the skills grown and knowledge they have gained through their careers,” she said.

Health Hawke’s Bay chief executive Wayne Woolrich said taking the time to acknowledge the skill and professionalism of the region’s nursing workforce was incredibly important.

“Nursing is often described as a combination of art and science and our nurses merge both incredibly effectively. They are able to apply everything they learn through their training and on-going professional development in an empathetic manner to every patient in front of them, providing both quality care and support.