Coventry and Warwickshire nurses and midwives to celebrate with the community this International Nurses’ Day and International Day of the Midwife
Nurses leading the International Nurses' Day procession in Coventry in 2019
Wednesday 11 May 2022
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The people of Coventry and Warwickshire will have the opportunity to thank student nurses, nurses, nursing associates and midwives for their selfless work during the COVID-19 pandemic as they parade through Coventry city centre.
On Thursday 12 May hundreds of past, present and future nurses from across Coventry and Warwickshire will come together to celebrate International Nurses’ Day and International Day of the Midwife.
The annual celebration has not taken place since 2019 due to the pandemic and the community will be able to share their gratitude with the health professionals as they parade from Broadgate to Coventry Cathedral at 12.45pm.
Coventry University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Health and Life Sciences Professor Lisa Bayliss-Pratt will then lead a celebration ceremony at the Cathedral.
Coventry University Group currently has 1,753 students enrolled on nursing courses (including nursing associates) and 192 enrolled on midwifery courses at its campuses in Coventry, London and Scarborough and those Coventry-based students have placements at NHS trusts across Coventry and Warwickshire which sees them work on the wards in the region’s hospitals.
The theme of this International Nursing Day is leadership and Professor Bayliss-Pratt, who is also the Programme Director for the Nursing Now Challenge, a programme of The Burdett Trust for Nursing, is an apt choice for Master of Ceremonies, given her passion for creating leadership pathways for health professionals.
Over the last two years, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, both students and staff at Coventry University have faced many challenges. In the face of adversity, they have responded with creativity, tenacity, and compassion.
In 2021 we launched our updated "Return to Practice" courses, enabling qualified nurses and midwives who have taken a break from nursing to re-join the professions and provide much-needed support to the national health workforce and where placements were no longer possible, to help students qualify on time, we pioneered innovative Virtual Simulated Placement technology to offer students a valuable insight into clinical practice.
I am so proud of the pathway that Coventry University has created for its nursing and midwifery students and it is an honour to support these future leaders as they embark on their careers.
This International Nurses' Day, I want to congratulate our nurses here in Coventry and all those around the world. Your dedication, skill, and innovative thinking are making waves far beyond the communities you serve. We celebrate you and all that you do.
Coventry University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Health and Life Sciences Professor Lisa Bayliss-Pratt
Dr Maxine Pryce-Miller, Associate Professor for Nursing at Coventry University will also speak at the ceremony about the importance of inclusion and diversity.
Representatives from the local nursing, midwifery and nursing associate workforce will also give speeches at the ceremony that will be attended by nurses and midwives from Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust and student nurses and midwives from Coventry University. The event is also supported by NHS Coventry and Rugby CCG and NHS Warwickshire North CCG.
This celebration has always been an important one for us to acknowledge the incredible work nurses and midwives across the system do, particularly given the pressures they and the whole of the NHS have faced over the last two years. It will be wonderful for all of these organisations to come together in the cathedral to celebrate this year after not being able to mark the day since 2019.
Mandy Braimbridge, Deputy Chief Nurse at Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust, who co-ordinate this event
Find out how you can start your nursing or midwifery journey at Coventry University.
