Florence Nightingale, the founding mother of modern nursing, was born on May 12th

Every year on May 12, International Nurses Day is observed to honour nurses. The International Council of Nurses (ICN) first commemorated the day in 1965.

May 12 was selected to commemorate the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, in 1974. Nightingale was a social reformer and statistician in addition to being a nurse. She was instrumental in organising treatment for injured soldiers in Constantinople. Nursing gained a positive legacy from her activities, and she became a Victorian cultural figure. Nightingale's nursing school at St Thomas Hospital in London in 1860 laid the groundwork for contemporary nursing.