Message by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on International Nurses Day 2020
May 12, 2020
英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊2020年国际护士节致辞
2020年5月12日
Two hundred years ago today, whilst holidaying at a villa in Tuscany, a young English couple welcomed the arrival of a beautiful baby girl. The birth would have been much like any other at the time. But this child’s life would prove to be anything but typical. Because Florence Nightingale, author, data scientist and above all, the pioneer of modern nursing, would go on to change the world forever.
She revolutionised Victorian healthcare, establishing principles that stand to this day. She changed and shaped the very perception of what a nurse is, what a nurse should be, transforming the job into what she called “the finest of fine arts”. And in so doing, she saved lives, not just in her own lifetime and her own country, but for decades to come and in every corner of the globe.
That’s why it’s no coincidence that today, her birthday, is also International Day of the Nurse. Around the world, there are hospitals named in her honour, including the temporary facilities created to deal with the current pandemic. When American nurses reach the end of their training, they graduate by reciting “The Nightingale Pledge”. Every year, the President of India honours his country’s most exceptional nurse with the Florence Nightingale Award. She’s even had a Dutch passenger jet and a distant asteroid named after her, and how many of us can say that?
But Nightingale’s true legacy lies not in awards and buildings. It lies in the remarkable women and men she continues to inspire today. And while much has changed in medicine since Florence’s time, she would walk into one of our wonderful NHS hospitals today and I’ve no doubt that she would recognise, in an instant, the dedication, the compassion, the incredible skill of the nurses on duty – the “ministering angels” of our time. Individuals possessed of what Florence herself called “the true nurse calling”, an unquestioning willingness to put “the good of the sick first”, and all else second.
So today, let’s all take a moment to remember Florence Nightingale and all she achieved. And let’s also say a huge thank you, once again, to today’s Nightingales – the amazing nurses who do so much and who care for so many. Just as your famous predecessor carried her fanoos lamp as she walked the wards at night, so you continue to cast light on the darkest moments of our lives. And for that, we owe you more than words can say.