Celebrating International Nurses Day - May 12th
This year 2026, the International Nurses Day theme is “Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives “carries particular resonance for Psychiatric and Intellectual Disability nurses
Their work is not measured in procedures or test results - it is measured in trust built over weeks or in the moment someone is in crisis. Every morning in our acute units, crisis and community services, people’s homes Psychiatric / Mental Health nurses’ step into lives at their most fragile, sitting with someone in acute psychoses, supporting a young anxious person, holding the space for family who are confused and tired. Psychiatric and Intellectual Disability Nurses walk alongside service users and families until they can find their footing again, empowerment is a necessity in such work.
"Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives." is a call to action as much as a celebration — a recognition that nurses can only deliver the care our communities need when they themselves are supported, valued, and heard.
The theme highlights the critical need to empower nurses to achieve maximum life-saving impact amid global health challenges such as workforce shortages and climate change. It calls for safe work environments, ability to achieve their full scope of practice and leadership that enables nurses to improve health outcomes and transform systems through personcentred care.
Empowerment has practical, tangible meaning for nurses as it has direct consequences for service user outcomes. It means nurses having clinical autonomy — the ability to use their expertise without being second-guessed or over-managed. It means safe workforce planning with streamlined recruitment and retention initiatives. It means clear pathways for career progression and positive practice environments. It also means ensuring pay reflects the cost of living and professional responsibilities.
For Psychiatric and Intellectual Disability nurses in particular, empowerment also means being protected from workplace related stress (compassion fatigue / burnout) that can accumulate due to the nature of the role. An empowered workforce is one that receives genuine support. Physical and psychological safety must be guaranteed in a culture where nurses welfare is taken seriously at every level. When nurses are trusted, resourced, and genuinely empowered, the outcomes are profound.
May 12 International Nurses Day is a statement of what nurses deserve and a statement of what we stand to gain in health care. Celebrating psychiatric and intellectual disability nurses today means accountability. Government, Employers, Health systems must ask the question about whether they are creating the conditions in which nurses can thrive.
As both a professional association and a trade union, the PNA commits to focusing on improving services and advocating for better employment conditions for our members. We recognise and support your invaluable work
This International Nurses Day, — Our nurses. Our future. Empowered nurses save lives.