By Head of Discipline (Undergraduate Nursing) and Lecturer in Nursing in the Charles Sturt University School of Nursing, Paramedicine and Healthcare Sciences in Wagga Wagga Ms Keden Montgomery.

Nurses have a deep impact on people, families and communities during some of the most challenging times of their lives.

To have this impact, nurses work under immense physical, emotional and cognitive pressure and International Nurses Day recognises this dedication and sacrifice.

International Nurses Day is held on the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

The day honours the many contributions that nurses have made historically and the contributions they continue to make.

It also provides a platform to advocate for strategic investment in nursing, through sharing the depth and breadth of responsibilities nurses undertake in a contemporary society, and to advocate for safe working conditions and safe patient care.

It also provides us with the opportunity to represent the economic impact nurses across the sector make to develop strong and healthy communities.

Most importantly, International Nurses Day unites the nursing profession through shared identity and purpose and inspires the future of nursing globally.

This year’s International Nurses Day theme is ‘Our Nurses. Our Future. Caring for nurses strengthens economies’.  

Taking care of our nurses is not about people in power telling us what a wonderful job we have done. Nurses require long-term investment in our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing to build a strong, resilient and sustainable future for Australia’s health workforce.

Responding to these needs is a fundamental necessity for a well-functioning and high-quality health system that prioritises the safety of the public.

Charles Sturt’s Bachelor of Nursing program stands out as a regional leader because of the deep connection we maintain with our industry partners, creating real world opportunities for our graduates to be work ready.

This is why we are ranked first in Australia in employment for public universities, with more than 93 per cent of our graduates gaining full-time employment in the first four months of graduation.

We integrate curriculum design and delivery that responds to the needs and preferences of students living in regional, rural and remote Australia and acknowledge the rich experiences our Enrolled Nurses bring to the program.

Our program takes an inter-professional approach to nursing education, acknowledging the diverse teams and settings where contemporary registered nurses contribute.

We integrate purpose-built and innovative simulation technology and design to optimise learning experiences for our students and collaborate with industry to provide learning experiences that connect across academia and industry.

And we are one of the few universities to integrate an electronic health record into our simulations, using a leading system HealthiERSim, to ensure our graduates are digitally ready to practice.

Our graduates take with them a passion for lifelong learning and directly impact the people and communities within our footprint.

Our students graduate to work in local emergency departments, intensive care units, residential aged care facilities and many other settings.

Many of our graduates return to continue their studies through our broad range of postgraduate study options that respond to health priority areas in our footprint.