The theme of this year's National Nursing Week - Nursing: You Can't Live Without It! - reflects the value of the profession to the health system and celebrates the largest group of health-care providers in Canada who, each day, make important personal and professional contributions to the health and lives of Canadians.
National Nursing Week is not just an opportunity to recognize the outstanding patient-centred care that Canadian nurses provide. It is also a chance to call attention to the role of the profession in optimizing our health system.
"People from all walks of life are amazed at the myriad contributions that nurses make to their well-being, from guiding people through the complexities of the health system, to shaping policy that promotes health and protects populations from disease, to advocating for patient safety and quality of care, to driving important innovations in research," said Kaaren Neufeld, president of the Canadian Nurses Association. "You can depend on nurses to be there with you during ordinary and extraordinary times. And you can bet your life on that."
The celebrations honouring Canada's more than 250,000 registered nurses begin on May 10 with a series of activities across the country.