International Nurses Day

International Nurses Day is celebrated annually worldwide to highlight the significant contribution of nurses to the healthcare sector.

It falls on May 12th every year, which marks the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale. At Colten Care, we’re proud to have many outstanding nurses, both past and present.

Our resident nurses, Beryl Goodhew and Tina Thorne, have incredible stories to share. Beryl worked as an auxiliary nurse in Norwich, and her favourite thing about nursing was taking care of babies. She fondly remembers the Dutch children who used to come to their isolation wards with a fever and would sing and dance to make everyone smile. Beryl met her husband Eddie when she was just 18 years old, and they were happily married for 55 years.

Tina was an NHS and private nurse, and she worked as an assistant matron for the Dementia Alzheimer’s Organisation. She recalls her nursing career as a real community between nurses and patients, where laughter was never in short supply.

Today at Colten Care, we have amazing nurses on duty like Velile Mathe, who has been a registered adult nurse in Zimbabwe for 12 years and joined us in 2020. We also have Maya Sengupta, a first-year student adult nurse who is starting her nursing journey with training at The Aldbury. And Alice Balmer, who is beginning her Training Nurse Associate in September. Alice shared that she’s always wanted to make a difference through nursing.

We also celebrated International Nurses Day with poem readings and gifts of flowers, chocolates, and a beautiful cake. “Our nurses make us proud,” said Joyce, and we all agreed.

We’re incredibly grateful for all of the nurses who have dedicated their careers to caring for others. Happy International Nurses Day!