International Nurses Day celebrated on Thursday 12 May

11 May 2011

This year’s theme is “Closing the Gap: Increasing Access and Equity”.

Nurses foster and maintain links between individuals, families, communities, and the rest of the health care systems, working both autonomously and collaboratively to prevent disease and disability and to promote, improve, restore and maintain health. Their work encompasses population health, health promotion, disease prevention, wellness care, first point of contact care, and disease management across the lifespan, both in the community and hospital settings.

Taranaki DHB Director of Nursing Kerry-Ann Adlam said nurses play a pivotal role in providing and supporting individual and community health and are depended upon as the primary health care provider in some settings, such as rural and remotely based communities. “Nurses are essential to improving equity and access to health care for their patients and adding quality to outcome of care,” said Mrs Adlam.

“Over the last twelve months we have seen many achievements for our nurses and midwives and the future looks exciting. Current and future plans include our releasing time to care programme, a new hospital, a new nursing curriculum for 2012, and our first home grown midwifery graduates.

“We greatly appreciate the work that our nurses and midwives do and the opportunity to celebrate this with them this month. We acknowledge the work of Taranaki nurses and midwives in both hospitals and the community and we thank you for your contributions towards Taranaki Together, a Healthy Community, “she said.

For more information please call:
Sue Carrington
Media Adviser
Ph. 021 367 789

Last updated: Friday, May 13, 2011