Nurses and pupils team up for Every Day is Nurses Day

11 May 2000

Nurses from the West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust will be visiting two primary schools, Wells Hall, Great Cornard and Glemsford on Friday (May 12) to celebrate Every Day is Nurses Day.

The aim is to raise awareness of the nursing profession and to help primary school children learn more about what modern-day nurses really do and where they work.

Nurses Day is an annual national celebration of the nursing profession and takes place on May 12 to coincide with the birthday of Florence Nightingale (1820 - 1910).

"From an early age many children begin to develop a number of misconceptions about nursing. For instance, some think 911 nurses are female and do not appreciate the high level of responsibility they carry Or the skills, such as IT and communications, that are needed in every day nursing, said Mrs Chris Fell, a theatre nurse at the hospital.

'We aim to provide a realistic and positive image of modern nursing. We will be taking along some of the equipment We use including slings and bandages, stethoscopes and theatre hats so the children can try them out for themselves.

There will also be a strong emphasis on health promotion linking with school activities on protecting skin from sun rays.

Every Day is Nurses day resource packs, which link in with the National Curriculum activity, are available to the schools taking part. It includes pupil activity sheets which have been designed to build into a mini newspaper about the visit by nurses.

Nationally, Every Day is Nurses Day is organised by the NHS and the Department of Education and Employment and is part of a long-tern recruitment strategy. Last year nurses from more than 200 NHS Trusts visited more than 1,000 schools. In total more than 30,000 pupils learned first-hand about modern day nursing.

Details of the visits:

Wells Hall Primary School, Great Cornard: 9am - 2pm. Dermatology Nurse Specialist Marie Retzback, Ward Sister Claire Scott and Theatre Nurse Chris Fell will be visiting the school.

Glemsford Primary School: 10am - 12pm. Theatre Nurse Marie Davis and Charge Nurse Medical Ward Andre Davies will be visiting the school.