Haslemere’s Holy Cross Hospital is celebrating the phenomenal contribution of nursing to the care and treatment of people with complex neurological conditions, this International Nurses’ Day (12 May).
“The message from this year’s International Nurses’ Day reflects how respecting the value of nursing can have a positive impact on health all around the world. At Holy Cross, the contribution of nursing is absolutely central to the care and rehabilitation of our patients and is one of the reasons behind our reputation as a centre of excellence,” says Dr Ross White, Chief Executive of Holy Cross Hospital. “Holy Cross invests heavily in training and development for our staff, and for nurses that means we are able to provide opportunities for career progression that might not be so readily available elsewhere.”
Holy Cross Hospital provides specialist care to people with highly complex needs resulting from brain injury or neurological conditions. For some patients, that means a long term stay at the hospital, which provides a range of specialist treatment facilities and as homely an environment as possible. Other patients might stay for a more limited time to receive rehabilitative treatment that enables them to return home.
The hospital also runs a programme of courses and conferences open to professionals both nationwide and internationally.
“Being part of an international community enables us to learn from clinicians and researchers from around the world while at the same time sharing our own discoveries, innovations and challenges, too. Nursing is a key part of those educational activities alongside other areas of medicine and health care,” says Dr White.
Education was a founding principle of Holy Cross Hospital when it was established by the Daughters of the Cross over 100 years ago. Later in its history the hospital was a nurses’ training school.
International Nurses’ Day is organised each year by the International Council of Nurses and calls on nursing to be a voice to lead. This year’s theme spreads the message to invest in nursing and respect rights to secure global health. It is held on 12 May each year to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale.