National Nursing Week is the annual celebration of the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth on May 12th, which is also celebrated around the world as International Nurses Day. This year, the celebration takes place from May 9-15th, and CASN is taking the opportunity to appreciate the courage and commitment that nurses, nurse educators, and nursing students display every day in the face of an increasingly complex and challenging health care profession. Thank you all for your invaluable contributions and for continuing to care for the health and well-being of our nation.
CASN has organized several events, initiatives, and resources that will allow you to join us in celebrating National Nursing Week 2022. We encourage everyone to share how they are celebrating with CASN on social media using the hashtag #NationalNursingWeek.
We hope you will all join us in honouring the selfless nurses, nurse educators, and nursing students that maintain the high quality of nursing education for which Canada is well known around the world.
Special Message from CASN Executive Director, Cynthia Baker
About National Nursing Week 1 [1]
The week draws attention to nurses, increasing the awareness of the public, policymakers and governments to the many contributions of nursing to the well-being of Canadians.
In 1971, the International Council of Nurses designated May 12, the birthday of nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale, as International Nurses Day. In 1985, Canadian Nurses Association members passed a resolution to begin negotiations with the federal government to have the week containing May 12 proclaimed as National Nurses Week annually. Soon after, the federal minister of health proclaimed the second week of May as National Nurses Week. In 1993, the name was changed to National Nursing Week to emphasize the profession’s accomplishments as a discipline.
Events
- May 6, 2022 – York University – 2022 June Awrey Lecture – Locating Nursing’s Radical Imagination: Paradoxes for Our Times
- In this talk (en anglais seulement), Jess Dillard-Wright, PhD, MA, RN, CNM will outline the ways in which the healthcare industrial complex demands nurse conformity and how that, in turn, operationalizes nurses in service to the institution. Please RSVP by May 5th.
- May 9, 2022 – Indigenous Nurses Day
- On #IndigenousNursesDay, join CASN in honouring the achievements of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis nurses, educators, and students in Canada.
- May 11, 2022 – Creating a Nursing Peer Mentorship Program: Benefits to Students’ Health and Wellbeing
- Presented by the CASN Mental Health Nurse Educator Interest Group, learn about the experiences of students and faculty who implemented nursing peer mentorship programs (NPMP) at their schools in this free webinar.
- May 12, 2022 – Building Nursing Capacity in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Canada Virtual Forum
- Join CASN and UAE representatives for a free forum to share competencies, explore solutions, and identify requirements in nursing education between both countries.
Initiatives
- Commemorate the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth by coming together to discuss the influence she has had on nurses and nursing education.
Send a Thank You Nurse Educators note. Every nurse has been inspired by an educator, preceptor, mentor, or role model throughout their professional journey, and we encourage you to tell them how much you appreciate their guidance and support.
- Below you will find a Thank You Nurse Educators card in English or French that you can print and send to a Nurse Educator during Nursing Week.
* Cards available in JPEG (English JPEG, French JPEG) or fillable PDFs (English PDF, French PDF)
- On social media, we encourage you to use the hashtag #NationalNursingWeek when you share celebratory stories, photos, messages, and use the hashtag #ThankYouNurseEducators when sharing your Thank You Nurse Educators appreciation cards.
- Follow CASN on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube for more celebratory posts.
- #NURSESFORPEACE – Support the ICN’s condemnation of the illegal invasion of Ukraine
- Nurses and healthcare workers must be allowed to deliver care and humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine, shielded from harm, threats, and violence. Join the International Council of Nurses (ICN) and partners in a call for an immediate end to all hostilities and peace for the people of Ukraine.
Resources & Messages
- Rebecca RN BN & Laura RN PhDc’s Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/nurseitlikeyoumeanit/
- They connect with many students both nationally and internationally to support students in a supportive, fun and positive way through social media.
- Athabasca University – Dr. Alex Clark, dean, Faculty of Health Disciplines – Message: National Nursing Week: Thank you nurses everywhere
- Université de Montréal – Daily Nursing Week Facebook Messages
- Each day of National Nursing Week, the Faculté des sciences infirmières at Université de Montréal will be posting a message (in French only) dedicated to a different value specific to the nursing profession.
- Memorial University – Determined to Teach – Nurse Educators Success Story
- A team of instructors in Memorial University’s Learning Resource Centre, was presented with the inaugural President’s Award for Exemplary Employees, Champions of Innovation, for going above and beyond in their efforts to ensure that nursing students could continue learning the essential skills they needed to practice as registered nurses.
- Memorial University – Health-care Heroics – Nursing Student Success Story
- Last year, Memorial University 4th year nursing students from the Faculty of Nursing and the Centre for Nursing Studies in St. John’s supported the province’s pandemic relief efforts by working as nurse collegians with Eastern Health, the province’s largest health region. See the incredibly powerful and inspiring pandemic photo.
- Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society – Letter from President, Dr Dolores McKeen, Celebrating Canadian Nurses
Contact Us
For general inquiries, please contact inquire@casn.ca.
Third-party information liability disclaimer
CASN is providing this page as a public service. The content and views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on this page does not imply an endorsement or recommendation by CASN.
[1] Information in the “About National Nursing Week” section comes directly from the Canadian Nurses Association’s “National Nursing Week 2022 sponsored by Johnson & Johnson” webpage: https://www.cna-aiic.ca/en/news-events/national-nursing-week. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
