A virtual celebration of an extraordinary year

International Year of the Nurse and Midwife 2020 commemorative e-book

Read the commemorative e-book

Our way of saying ‘thank you’ to the nurses and midwives in the Midlands

The Year of the Nurse and Midwife 2020 is our year and is our opportunity to celebrate and champion our nursing and midwifery
professions to showcase the incredible, life changing work we do for patients across our health and social care system.

Whilst in ordinary times we would have celebrated together, the events of this year have meant we have had to do things differently – but we still wanted to do something fitting to mark this very special occasion.

That’s why we’ve compiled this commemorative e-book which includes stories and videos from nurses, midwives and care support workers from across our region and highlights their contribution and the difference they are making to patients and communities.

This e-book is a celebration of you and everything you do. It’s recognition of how diverse and vibrant our professions are and how we as nurses and midwives touch people’s lives.

Access the Midlands' Year of the Nurse and Midwife commemorative e-book

About the Year of the Nurse and Midwife

The World Health Organisation (WHO) designated 2020 as International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife (YONM) to celebrate the vital contribution that 22 million nurses and two million midwives make in providing better healthcare all over the world.

The year is an especially significant one here in
the UK as it coincides with the 200th anniversary
of the birth of Florence Nightingale – a colossal
figure in history who laid the foundations for
nursing to become the professional occupation
we know today.

Read the introductions from…

Read more about YONM…

Have you been inspired to become a nurse or midwife?

We are the NHS

In November this year, NHS England and NHS Improvement launched the ‘We are the NHS’ campaign – an annual recruitment drive that demonstrates the variety of career opportunities within our professions, helps to drive recruitment within our sector and showcases the incredible work we do.

Read more…

Celebrating the work of nurses and midwives across the Midlands

These stories share extraordinary nursing and midwifery stories from the 11 sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs) and integrated care systems (ICSs) within the Midlands:

Birmingham and Solihull

Black Country and West Birmingham

Coventry and Warwickshire

Derbyshire

Herefordshire and Worcestershire

Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland

Lincolnshire

Northamptonshire

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire

Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin

Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent

We are the NHS

Recognising the contribution of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Nurses and Midwives

We are immensely proud of the phenomenal contribution made every day by our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) nurses and midwives throughout the Midlands.

Rankin portraits

During the summer this year, renowned photographer Rankin captured portraits of 12 individuals from across the NHS who played a key role in the NHS Covid response.

Two of our nursing and midwifery colleagues from the region were photographed:

Anne Roberts image

District Nurse Anne Roberts from Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Credit: Rankin

Claudia Anghel

Claudia Anghel, Midwife, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire. Credit: Rankin

The importance of the health and wellbeing of all nurses and midwives

To further support all nurses and midwives, the regional nursing team have co-produced a health and wellbeing toolkit with regional BAME experts and colleagues from the NHS England and NHS Improvement National Perceptions of Nursing team.

The toolkit features links to a large range of free health and wellbeing resources including websites, apps, podcasts and physical support groups.

We have incorporated a wide range of local resources and links to organisations offering support. Please share this resource and encourage your colleagues to use it to support themselves and others.

Access the 'Caring for yourself while you care for others' toolkit
And finally...

Thank you once again for all your efforts – including during this extraordinary year

Download the commemorative e-book

You can access the flipbook version of our commemorative e-book here, with a PDF version of the commemorative e-book also available to download here.

Share your #YearOfTheNurseAndMidwife stories on social media

Please remember to share your own nursing and midwifery stories using the #YearOfTheNurseAndMidwife hashtag or by tagging @NHSMidlands on Twitter.