Hansard

I am really pleased to be leading this members’ business debate celebrating international nurses day, which is on Friday.

The motion states

“that nurses are the single largest group of healthcare professionals in the UK”.

There are estimated to be more than 20 million nurses and midwives in the world, accounting for 52 per cent of the healthcare workforce. The motion also

“acknowledges that nursing encompasses the autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families and communities in all settings, and includes the promotion of”

physical and mental

“health, prevention of illness and the care of people who are ill, disabled and ... dying”.

Outstanding care happens everywhere and at every stage of life in Scotland and across the world.

The International Council of Nurses presented a paper of case histories about the work that nurses do in different parts of the world, from HIV treatment and care in South Africa, to family partnership for improved maternal care in urban USA, to accessing food aid in Syria, to bariatric perioperative best practice in Australia, to caring for people who have contracted the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone, to developing community respiratory early warning scoring systems for persons with chronic lung health problems in NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

I have my own case history.: I am a nurse. Prior to Hollywood—I mean Holyrood; Hollywood was another place where I worked. Prior to coming to Holyrood in 2015, I was a nurse for 33 years. My specialties are surgery and education. Even although I am not currently working as a nurse, that does not stop me thinking like one and approaching problems with my nurse heid on. My sisters are nurses, too: between us, the Harper sisters have 130 years of nursing experience and have contributed more than a quarter of a million nursing hours of patient care. Having a career in nursing allows us all to travel internationally and to work and learn from other professionals and cultures about the best way to care for people. We sisters have worked with medical personnel from across the world. The medical community is wholly international, and what we learn from each other truly contributes to enhancing not only the lives of our patients, but our own lives.

According to the Royal College of Nursing, nurses are the superheroes of healthcare. I met two superheroes a couple of weeks ago: Marcia Ramsay is director of operations for Alzheimer Scotland and Clare Stroyan is the service manager at its recently opened dementia resource centre in Stranraer, in Wigtownshire. Both are nurses, and both are proud of the new facility and the opportunity to develop a great support service for people who have had a diagnosis of dementia, and their families.

May 12 was chosen as the date on which to celebrate international nurses day because it is the birthday of Florence Nightingale. Florence is probably one of the most famous nurses. She modernised the approach to care during the Victorian age and was instrumental in improving care by implementing the new mathematical science of statistical analysis.

Other famous nurses are worth celebrating, including Mary Seacole, the Jamaica-born contemporary of Florence Nightingale. The two women took different approaches to care, but they had the same goal of reducing mortality among the soldiers for whom they cared. Both proved to be formidable women who worked to save soldiers’ lives. Let us also celebrate Pauline Cafferkey, who almost lost her life when she contracted the Ebola haemorrhagic virus while caring for victims of the virus in Sierra Leone. I think that one of my colleagues will talk a bit more about Pauline Cafferkey.

Each year, the International Council of Nurses celebrates nurses day by focusing on a specific theme. This year the theme is, “Nurses: A voice to lead—Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals”. The 17 sustainable development goals were set by the World Health Organization and the United Nations and tackle issues that affect people by stimulating action on the themes of

“people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnerships”.

Goal 3 is about good health and wellbeing, but all goals can be directly linked to nursing and the optimisation of people’s lives—for example, the goals that are about addressing poverty and hunger and about promoting education and gender equality. David Hope-Jones and Kathryn Chipperfield, who have been on the Scotland Malawi Partnership’s stand outside the members’ block this week, also support the sustainable development goals. If members have not visited the stand to have their photo taken and learn about the sustainable development goals in the context of the relationship between Scotland and Malawi, I urge them to do so.

I do not have time to explain all 17 goals. I urge everyone to read more about the targets that are to be achieved over the next 15 years. Nurses are key partners in work to achieve the WHO and UN SDGs. These are not new tasks in the already challenging work that nurses face daily across primary and acute care. The International Council of Nurses wants to make it clear that the sustainable development goals are already embedded in current practice across the globe—it wants to highlight that to us all. I urge everyone to celebrate the work of nurses and to thank their nurses when they meet them.

I thank the Scottish Government for choosing to keep the bursary that supports nurses during training at universities and in Scottish hospitals. A career in nursing is hugely satisfying—my three sisters and I can testify to that. The Scottish Government should continue to promote the profession and to support men and women to step into nursing.

I note that the sun is shining on me right now. I call on everyone to mark international nurses day by doing wee things. Members can share a message of support on social media, watch and share the Royal College of Nursing’s support video, which contains messages of thanks from people who have received care from nurses across many specialties, or donate to a nurse charity.

I reiterate to nurses across the world and certainly here at home that they are already contributing to the sustainable development goals. Let us tell everyone that, celebrate it and celebrate international nurses day.