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Year of the Nurse and Midwife Portrait painting by a local artist During Covid-19 many portrait artists around the country joined in with #PortraitsForNHSHeroes which involved painting a free portrait of NHS Key Workers. As part of this, local artist Carol Lay offered to do the piece of art as she could see the huge task the NHS was facing with Covid-19 and wanted to be able to give a little something back. Carol wanted to capture a historical moment in unprecedented times for someone working on the frontline, but also, felt it was good for her to be able to give something back to someone who works at the LGI, after receiving some incredible care over the last few years herself. Carol wanted to say thank you to the NHS. You can see Carol’s other paintings on her Instagram page @bee_busy_art
Celebrating our Nurses and Midwives 2020 is Florence Nightingale’s bicentennial year, designated by the World Health Organisation as the first ever global Year of the Nurse and Midwife. Nurses and midwives make up the largest numbers of the NHS workforce - highly-skilled professionals from a host of backgrounds that represent our diverse communities. 2020 is our time to reflect on these skills, the commitment and expert clinical care they bring, and the impact they make on the lives of so many. This year is also an opportunity to say thank you to the professions; to showcase their diverse talents and expertise; and to promote nursing and midwifery as careers with a great deal to offer. Lisa Grant, Chief Nurse, and Sue Gibson, Director of Midwifery, said: “As we celebrate 2020 Year of the Nurse and Midwife, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of you for your hard work and dedication in providing the highest standards of care to our patients throughout the year.” We celebrated the International Day of the Midwife on 5 May and on 12 May we joined in the celebration of International Nurses Day. This was also the day that we recognised the incredible work of Florence Nightingale on her birthday 200 years ago. When the LGI moved to an impressive new site on Great George Street in 1869, this was designed on the advice of Florence Nightingale. You can see the original plans by visiting our popup Nightingale museum stand at the LGI
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Vicki Bentley, Senior Sister on Ward L16 sent in her picture wearing PPE and her profile as part of Year of the Nurse celebrations which is exactly what the artist Carol was looking for.
Love NHS! As part of the celebrations of International Day of the Nurse a Love NHS Sign was kindly donated by Christmas Decorators for a week for staff to have photo opportunities with it. Teams and individuals were snapped, and selfies taken across the site at St James’s hospital outside the Chapel. It also looked very striking at night all lit up! Pictured here is Lisa Grant, Chief Nurse and Julian Hartley, Chief Executive with some Heads of Nursing next to the sign.
