As the year of the Nurse and Midwife comes to a close, I want to take a moment and look back. When the World Health Organization (WHO) designated 2020 the year of the Nurse and Midwife, they didn’t know the harrowing challenges caregivers would face.

The designation of 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife was in honor of Florence Nightingale's 200th birth anniversary. Two hundred years later, the critical need to increase the number of educated and diverse nursing professionals continues to increase as the enormous demands to improve health outcomes for populations around the world intensifies. It is especially symbolic to 2020 as our world faces the worst pandemic since the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic outbreak.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, amid the resurgence in COVID-19 cases, the boost in recognition is a profound reminder of how important the nursing profession is for answering the call to action, especially during turbulent health crises. Today, nurses from all backgrounds are collaborating across many disciplines to meet the ever-growing demands of COVID-19, chronic illnesses, and the holistic needs for many diverse and underserved populations around the world.

As one of the few caring professions, nurses are deeply devoted to a strict code of ethics, professional standards that define the professional nurse’s role, creed, and ultimate commitment to improving health outcomes. As nurses, we are caring, compassionate, and put the needs of others first for the greater good of humanity.

Nurses are critical thinkers who are committed to learning and the dissemination of new knowledge, theory, research, and principles of teaching to help improve patient care and outcomes.

Lastly, it's with great honor and a deep appreciation that I share my admiration and tremendous gratitude for all nurses around the world. I am honored to be part of the nursing profession and extremely thankful for the meaningful work nurses do each day to help improve the lives and health of others.