Honouring the achievements of Ethel Gordon Fenwick and of all nurses

As many readers will be aware, 23 December 2019 will mark 100 years since Ethel Gordon Fenwick's campaign for nursing regulation was successful. Fenwick, a former matron at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, spent over three decades fighting to improve patient safety, ensure nurse training was standardised and to create a register of nurses. She was eventually victorious and was able to watch from the public gallery in the House of Commons when the Nurses Registration Act was passed by the Government on 23 December 1919.

Fast forward 100 years, and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is undertaking numerous celebrations to mark this milestone in nursing—one of the UK's most trusted professions (CV-Library, 2019). One such occasion was a special celebratory event that took place at St Thomas' Hospital, London, on 25 November to commemorate the NMC's ‘Always Caring, Always Nursing’ campaign, to announce the winner of its badge competition and to officially mark the outstanding contribution nursing has made to society in the past 100 years.