Nursing is an art and a science: the year of the nurse and midwife

Throughout next year, nursing and midwifery will be in the spotlight, as 2020 has been declared the international year of the nurse and midwife by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Nightingale bicentenary celebrations are also taking place globally. This year has just witnessed a centenary of nursing regulation as, on 23 December 1919, the Nurses Registration Act was passed. Seen as the UK's most trusted profession, nursing impacts on the lives of people and communities everywhere in a variety of roles in a number of profound ways. Our professional regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), constantly reviews professional standards, ensuring that those on the professional register provide contemporary, evidence-based care that contributes to positive outcomes for patients and those who use our services.

The year 2020 sees the 200th celebration of Florence Nightingale's birth. Nightingale, leader, icon and pioneer was born in 1820 and died aged 90 in 1910. She is seen as the philosophical founder of modern nursing, as well as a female icon, healthcare pioneer and a competent and respected researcher, statistician, analyst, entrepreneur, innovator, and leader. Throughout 2020, there will be celebrations of the legacy she left. Nightingale inspired, and continues to inspire, nurses globally, and, as well as nurses, her work has informed mathematicians, architects, public health workers and activists.