The 2010 International Year of the Nurse: 21st century nightingales and global health

"We must create a public opinion, which must drive the government instead of the government having to drive us.... an enlightened public opinion, wise in principle, wise in detail."

--Florence Nightingale, 1892

JANUARY 1, 2010 MARKED 100 years since the death of Florence Nightingale (18201910), the philosophical founder of modern nursing. Nightingale's work is clearly an epic example of advocacy and grassroots-to-global nursing. Actively engaged in one geographic area, she simultaneously shaped worldwide public opinion about health and healthy environments. While gathering and analyzing data from other areas of world conflict, she always envisioned what a healthy world might be.

To honor Nightingale's legacy, the 2010 International Year of the Nurse (see www.2010IYNurse.net) was launched as a sustained public awareness initiative to actively involve the world's nurses--estimated to be more than 15 million--in a celebration of commitment to promoting health in their communities, locally and worldwide. The 2010 International Year of the Nurse (2010 IYNurse) is a collaborative, grassroots global initiative honoring nurses' voices, values, and wisdom to act as catalysts for achieving a healthy world. The 2010 IYN Founders are the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International; the Nightingale Initiative for Global Health; and the Florence Nightingale Museum, London. Twelve additional nursing leaders form a 2010 IYNurse International Advisory Board establishing this project on all six continents.

The 2010 IYNurse seeks to recognize the...