A light in the darkness
International Nurses’ Day is traditionally a day when the Australian Nursing Midwifery Federation celebrates nurses’ work and its impact on the health of our communities. However, this year with a world disrupted by the global coronavirus pandemic, we will be commemorating the dedication of our overseas colleagues to their patients.
Nurses around the globe have been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 from the onset of the outbreak. They have been involved in implementing key health strategies to contain and combat COVID-19 while thousands of nurses have volunteered to assist in whatever way they could.
The desire to help and the courage and compassion of nurses on the frontline doing the best for their communities have been demonstrated in every country across the world.
Sadly, this extraordinary effort has come at considerable cost, with hundreds of nurses around the world losing their lives to COVID-19. We have been very fortunate in this regard in Australia, but we want to honour the sacrifice of our global nursing colleagues on this International Nurses’ Day.
The ANMF, in collaboration with the New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation, will tonight hold an online candlelight vigil at 7pm (AEST) to honour the lives of our overseas colleagues who have lost their lives treating and caring for patients with COVID-19. The vigil will be streamed live on our social media at the links below:
Facebook – @AustralianNursingandMidwiferyFederation
Instagram – @anmf_nursing_midwifery_union
Join us and post your candlelight photo with the hashtag #covidnursesvigil so we can see all of your photos.
Annie Butler is the Federal Secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation. She is a registered nurse with more than a decade’s experience in health care and a further decade working in research and education.
