Int'l Nurses Day: Health is a human right

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This year’s International Nurses Day falls on Saturday, which also marks the birth anniversary of founder of modern nursing Florence Nightingale.

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is promoting the theme: "Health is a Human Right." There are still too many individuals and communities suffering from illnesses due to a lack of accessible health care.

Theme of this year's International Nurses Day. /Photo via ICN. ch

The expansion of medical care is an important issue.

On Thursday, ahead of Nurses Day, the National Health Commission announced that China will have over 4.45 million registered nurses by the year 2020.

As of the end of 2017, China had more than 3.8 million registered nurses, up 126.5 percent from 2008, said Jiao Yahui, an official with the commission, at a press conference.

"With quality nursing services covering all three levels of hospitals now, the focus of services is switching from assistant treatment to meeting the physical and mental health requirements of the patients," she said.

"Next, the NHC will put more effort into tasks including expanding the content of nursing majors, and strengthening the ranks of nurses in charge of elderly care services, to serve the people's health throughout their whole lives," Jiao said.

And the work of nurses has never stopped.

Nurse Dang Shuo nurses a newborn baby at Dexing People's Hospital in Dexing, east China's Jiangxi Province.

/Xinhua Photo

Nurse Xia Zhaoxia feeds a child at the intensive care unit (ICU) in Shuhuangding hospital in Yantai, east China's Shandong Province.

/Xinhua Photo

Nurse Fan Jijun and his colleagues take a sample of blood from a patient at Yuqing People's Hospital in Yuqing County, southwest China's Guizhou Province.

/Xinhua Photo

Nurse Wang Xinsen works as an assistant to the doctor for cesarean sections in a hospital in Handan, north China's Hebei Province.

/Xinhua Photo