May 12, 1820, is Florence Nightingale's date of birth, and she was the founder of modern nursing science. That is why this date was chosen to celebrate International Nurses Day throughout the world.

This day gives us the opportunity to recognize the human, social, and professional value... of the nursing profession. Sooner or later, we all encounter a nurse in the course of our lives, and during the difficult moments experienced in hospital, their kindness or smile can lift our spirits.

Florence Nightingale: “the lady of the lamp”

The International Day has Florence Nightingale as its ideal patron. This account is significant in relation to her life and work. During the Crimean War, soldiers noticed her because she was tireless: always active, day and night, so much so that she was also called the “lady of the lamp”. She felt this work as a vocation, even though in her time it was not highly regarded.
She is responsible for the principles and guidelines followed, selected, and used by nurses in caring for patients. These guidelines form the basis of the courses at the Nightingale Training School, which she established in 1860, and of “Notes on Nursing”, a fundamental book in nursing schools. Nightingale was the first woman to become a member of the Royal Statistical Society, contributed to the creation of English social services, and inspired Henry Dunant to establish the International Red Cross.

Caring for the sick in the name of Christ

Saint Camillus de Lellis and Saint John of God lived at different times and in different places, but their life stories and holiness are united by the fact that the Lord calls them to recognize him among the sick. Indeed, they are both patron saints of hospitals and nurses.

Saint Camillus de Lellis

God's grace reached Camillus in 1575, radically changing his heart: while he was staying at the convent of San Giovanni Rotondo, where he had been taken in as a laborer after squandering all his possessions, he met a friar who told him: «God is everything. The rest is nothing. We must save the soul that does not die».
These words turn upside down the life of a man who until then had known and loved only weapons and dice: born in Bucchianico, in the province of Chieti, on May 25, 1550, he was admitted to the San Giacomo degli Incurabili Hospital in Rome because of a painful leg ulcer; then, partially recovered, he enlisted to earn a living.
Once discharged from the army in 1574, his passion for gambling led him to lose all his possessions. He was therefore forced to take refuge with the Capuchins of San Giovanni Rotondo. There, in 1575, shaken by the friar's words calling him to the love of God, he wanted to become a Capuchin, but was dismissed from the convent because of the sore on his leg that kept reopening. He then returned to San Giacomo and realized that this was his home: he devoted himself to caring for the sick, savoring the joy of being able to care for his Lord in them. Precisely upon seeing the miserable condition of the patients, Camillus had the idea of gathering a group of men of good will who would dedicate themselves to caring for the sick solely out of love for God. Thus the Company of the Ministers of the Sick was born.

Saint John of God

After leading a wandering life and serving as a mercenary soldier, Giovanni di Dio - born in Portugal on March 8, 1495 - radically changed his life following a sermon by Blessed John of Ávila: he abandoned everything, even gave up his shoes and clothes, and went begging through the streets of Granada, saying to passersby the phrase that would become the emblem of a new institution: “Do good, brothers, to yourselves”. In fact, the charity people gave him was distributed among those most in need.
However, the inhabitants of Granada, considering his behavior very strange, had him confined to a mental hospital: here Giovanni realized how the patients were left to fend for themselves. So, as soon as he could, he founded his own hospital. Although he had no medical training, he proved more capable than the doctors themselves. Care of the spirit was the premise for effective care of the body. Giovanni di Dio founded a large religious family, the Order of Hospitaller Brothers, better known as the Fatebenefratelli.
This article is intended as a way to thank all nurses... Each one carries in their heart the memory of a smile that brought light to a dark moment... If you wish, share your experience with us.