There have been little news clips about International Nurses Day since last Saturday and thanking nurses in Nicaragua for the work that they do. Today, May 12, is International Nurses Day and Woo Wee did we nurses celebrate! I was invited to the Nurses Day Reception by the director of the nursing school I visited and I was seated as a special guest. The Nicaraguan Nurses Association hosted the event and 1,500 Nurses from all over Nicaragua came to the event!! They all entered the convention hall that is part of a nice hotel here in Managua with big smiles and loud greetings. Some were in jeans and nice blouse, others in formal cocktail dresses, and others in the full blown nurse outfit (white shoes, white stockings, nurse’s cap, nurse’s cape.) Nursing students were working the event. The bathroom was full of women helping each other put on make-up, fix their high heels, fix their hair, and pin on the nurses caps. The event was planned to start at 9am but in true Nicaraguan style we didn’t get started until closer to 10:30am. There was a big banner at the front of the room that said “Resolving disparities by raising access and equality.” All the nurses who have been nurses for 25yrs, 30yrs and 40yrs were announced one by one and walked under an arch way white flowers (I think they were Lilies) made by the new nurses holding the flowers in an arch. Then proceeded the Nicaraguan Flag was the Nicaraguan Nurses Association flag, the nurse’s lamp, and then the board of directors of the Association. The President wore a white sash. We sang the Nicaraguan National Anthem, a pastor led a prayer, and the president of the Nica Nurses Association spoke (a speech remembering the life of Florence Nightingale and the accomplishments of Nica Nurses). We held a moment of silence for all the Nica nurses who were not able to be there and nurses around the world. Then all the 25yr, 30yr, and 40yr nurses received certificates/gifts as they walked across the stage one by one as their names were called. There were about 100 recipients and it took 2hrs and 15mins for them to walk across the stage. After that there were special awards, one of them was for the first Doctor of Nursing in Nicaragua, and another for a nurse that has been a nurse for 65 years (and is still working). Then, we sang the Nurses’ Hymn and had a nice buffet lunch…there were no rice and beans! As I was in line for lunch I heard music start playing loudly from the room and the lights went down, and flashing colored lights went on. Lunch rolled into a dance party. It was amazing…at least 500 nurses of all ages were dancing together. Salsa, meringue, cumbia, and then just some wiggling for those that didn’t know how to dance. The older women were into it and were really fun to watch. I danced too and on the dance floor ran into some nurse friends that I have met on this trip and my previous trips to Nica. It is so good to see nurses celebrating their noble profession and being recognized for their hard work. These women were proud to be nurses and I was proud to be celebrating my first International Nurses Day as a licensed nurse with all of them!
Love,
Ayla Landry
"So never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself." ~Florence Nightingale
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