The 12th May has been commemorated annually for many years as International Nurses Day, being the anniversary of the birth of the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, also known as 'the lady with the lamp' by those that she nursed during the Crimean War, a time when nurses were putting their lives on the line for their patients as they worked in extremely difficult conditions. 2020 is also the bicentenary year of her birth, but with the emergence of Covid-19 the milestone has had to be remembered in a different way instead of the planned events that would have taken place. It has also been recognised that due to the 60 or more nurses and midwives in the UK who have died as they worked tirelessly during the pandemic to protect and save lives, this time is a difficult one for the men and women nurses on the front line. We also remember the thousands of men and women that have tragically lost their lives already due to the pandemic and those who are unwell.
images of nurses past and present and
the new specialist Nightingale Hospitals recently
set up during this ongoing pandemic situation.
BBC news
It was suggested that the public might wish to place a lighted lamp or even a candle in the window as darkness fell last night and that's what Mr P and I did yesterday evening. A white rose is also associated with Florence Nightingale. It's said that as she walked around the beds of the field hospital at Scutari in the Crimea the patients knew she was coming not only because of the lamplight, but because they could smell the rose perfume that she favoured and would wear.
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