THE invaluable contribution nurses make to society was honoured at the Great Western Hospital on International Nurses Day yesterday.

Senior trust staff including chief executive Nerissa Vaughn and chief nurse Hilary Walker visited nursing staff across all wards and departments to give a personal message of thanks.

They also handed out goody bags with stationery, chocolates and sweets as a thank you for the nursing staff’s hard work and dedication.

Approximately 3,000 nurses are employed by the Great Western Hospital.

Chief nurse Hilary Walker said she was very proud of the nurses.

She said: “I just want to say a big thank you to not only the nurses on this ward but those across the entire organisation. The work they do is integral to the smooth running of the hospital and trust and they go above and beyond the call of duty.

“It is great to take this opportunity to celebrate the work that all of our nurses do. They are an important part of our lives but an absolute constant presence to our patients and we value that hard work and support.

“I feel incredibly proud of all of them.”

Ward sister Marie Mowbray, who has been a nurse for 13 years works on the hospital’s Jupiter Ward, which specialises in care for the elderly with a specialism in dementia care.

The 36-year-old said: “I love my job. It’s the patients and the difference we make to people’s lives that I love. I have a fantastic team who all work alongside one another. There’s banter, there’s hard work. We work very well as a team.”

Trainee sister Victoria Rogers, 24, has been working in nursing for three and a half years. She said she was proud to be a nurse.

“I have been doing this for three and a half years and I just love this job, particularly because the elderly have such characters.

“I also love the people I work with, they’re a great bunch of people. I think I wanted to come into this field because I love looking after my grandparents. I feel very lucky to be doing my job, I really enjoy every day.”

Claire Barker, training and development manager said: “Nurses play a pivotal role in so many key moments of our lives – when we’re first born, when we fall down as youngsters, when we have children and, in many cases, when we pass away.

“Not only are they a calming and reassuring presence at the most difficult of times, but they are now doing more than ever before, with today’s nurses carrying out many of the highly skilled techniques and procedures that would have once only been performed by a doctor.

“We have more than 1,000 nursing staff at GWH, with hundreds more actually providing care direct to patients in their own homes, and it’s important we take time to recognise the difference that each and every one of them makes.

International Nurses Day is held annually on the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

It is also hoped that International Nurses Day will inspire former healthcare workers who have taken a career break to consider putting on their uniform once again.