International Nurses Day 2025

On 12 May, the world must do more than celebrate International Nurses Day 2025. Nurses are the backbone of health care, yet they continue to face burnout, workforce shortages and systemic underinvestment. This year's theme, ‘Nurses: The Future of Global Health’, is not just a statement, it is a challenge to governments, healthcare institutions and society at large to step up and support the profession that holds our health and care systems together. Without nurses there will be no future for global health.

Nurses are more than caregivers; we are highly educated innovators, educators, researchers and policymakers. It is nurses who drive change in patient care, champion health equity and lead life-saving interventions in hospitals, communities and crisis zones locally, nationally and internationally. Despite this amazing contribution, nurses remain underpaid, they are overworked and they are undervalued, from so many different perspectives. This cannot be allowed to continue. If we aspire to build a strong, sustainable healthcare system, then investing in nursing must be an urgent priority.