International Nurses Day 12 May; Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives

Leanne Joynes, our Care Pathway Specialist and Registered Adult Nurse said:

Being a nurse means empathy, teamwork and being someone people can rely on when they need it most.

Although I’m no longer in a patient‑facing clinical role, I’m still incredibly proud to be a nurse and carry those values with me every day.

Nursing has shaped who I am, and it’s a profession I’ll always feel proud to be part of.

Paula McNamara Jones, our Clinical Pathway Manager and Registered Adult and Mental Health Nurse said:

I celebrate 40 years since joining the NHS this year. As a dual‑trained Mental Health and General Nurse, my path has rarely been traditional.

I’ve moved through roles and services that may not have looked connected from the outside, but every step added knowledge, strengthened skills, and built on what came before.

Over the years I have laughed, cried, been frustrated, been challenged, been amazed – and have always given the best I could. Each experience has shaped me into the person I am today.

What has kept me here for four decades? A constantly evolving career, continuous learning and development, the ability to apply past experience to new challenges and the privilege of serving within a system that truly matters.

David Newton, Scan4Safty Clinical Lead and registered Adult Nurse told us:

Nursing wasn’t a career I set out to pursue from the beginning. Before training, I had a number of roles, including finance, counselling, welfare advice, and business administration, but none of them quite felt like the right fit. When I came across nurse training through Project 2000, almost by chance, something clicked. It didn’t take long to realise I had finally found work that felt purposeful and genuinely rewarding. And my parents disapproved, which gave my rebellious self a lift.

During my training, I was fortunate to gain experience across a range of settings, including maternity care, adult nursing, and learning disability services. From my very first placement with the midwives, I knew I had made the right decision – I loved the practical nature of nursing and the opportunity to provide care and reassurance at pivotal moments in people’s lives. As my confidence grew, I became increasingly drawn to acute and critical care, and after qualifying I secured a junior staff nurse role on a newly established High Dependency Unit. It was demanding and intense but being supported by a skilled and welcoming team made it an incredibly formative and enjoyable experience.

Over time, my nursing career has evolved beyond direct bedside care into leadership and improvement roles, but my professional identity has always been shaped by those early clinical experiences. I have never really planned next steps, but good fortune and happenstance allow me to have a rich life, and nursing has been a huge part in that journey. For me, being a nurse means compassion, curiosity, and responsibility – using practical skills, judgement, and teamwork to make care safer and better for patients and our wider population. It remains a privilege to be part of a profession that adapts, grows, and makes a difference every day.

Tracey Cammish, our Head of Clinical Quality Improvement and Patient Safety and Registered Adult Nurse said:

Nursing is about understanding complex systems, working out what is going wrong, getting to the root cause and fixing it. It requires you to be logical, pragmatic and calm under pressure, while never losing sight of the human being at the centre of it all. That combination of thinking and compassion is what drew me in and what has shaped my entire career.

To me, being a nurse is about responsibility, advocacy and influence. It is about speaking up when something doesn’t feel right, even when it would be easier not to. It’s about improving systems so the people on the frontline can do the right thing more easily. Nursing is not just a job, it’s a way of thinking and a way of behaving.

I am constantly inspired by the nurses I work alongside, who bring skill, resilience and perspective that strengthens our nursing workforce and our culture every day.

On International Nurses Day, I am proud to be part of a profession that quietly gets on with the hard work, asks difficult questions and never loses sight of why we are here.

Michelle Johnson, National Clinical Executive Director and Registered Adult and Child Nurse mentioned:

Being a nurse means everything to me.

Compassion, empathy and kindness are my core values and being a nurse means that I can support others to live their best lives and I get great fulfilment from this.

Riddhi Karia Patel, Clinical Operations and Development Manager, Registered Mental Health Nurse said:

Being a nurse is more than a profession; it’s part of who I am.

To me, nursing means compassion, advocacy, and integrity- showing up consistently for patients and colleagues, even when things are challenging.

Being a nurse is also about being human first.

Supporting someone through a difficult period, or being there when their world feels uncertain, is incredibly meaningful and continually reminds me why I chose to become a nurse.

Nursing gives me a deep sense of purpose, and I’m genuinely proud of what I do.