The 2020 Year of the Nurse and Midwife and Nightingale bicentenary celebrations

Nursing and midwifery will be in the spotlight throughout 2020 as it has been declared the international year of the nurse and midwife by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Florence Nightingale bicentenary celebrations are also taking place globally. In 2019 we witnessed a centenary of nursing regulation: on 23 December 1919 the Nurses Registration Act was passed.

Seen as the UK's most trusted profession, nursing, in a variety of roles, impacts the lives of people and communities everywhere in a number of profound ways. Our professional regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, constantly reviews professional standards, ensuring those on the professional register provide contemporary, evidence-based care that contributes to positive outcomes for patients and those who use our services.

The year 2020 also sees the 200th celebration of Florence Nightingale's birth. Nightingale—leader, icon and pioneer—was born in 1820 and died aged 90 in 1910. She is seen as the philosophical founder of modern nursing, as well as a female icon, a healthcare pioneer, a competent and respected researcher, statistician, analyst, an innovator and entrepreneur, and a leader. Throughout 2020 there will be celebrations of the legacy she left. Nightingale inspired, and continues to inspire, nurses globally. Her work has also informed mathematicians, architects, public health workers and activists.