LAUSR

birthday of Florence Nightingale and celebrates the work and worth of every nurse. Why nurses nurse is another matter and for each nurse the answer will be different. There are only a few people who cannot connect a nurse to some aspect of their lives, be this a friend, a relative or an acquaintance. Despite this, few people can really define what a nurse does and even many nurses struggle, often responding with ‘it’s just what we do’. What we are not, however, are doctors’ handmaidens. The International Council of Nurses’ (2017) theme this year is the voice of nurses in leading and achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Nurses Day provides an opportunity for nurses to celebrate what it is they do, to raise the profile of nurses and our profession. This focus presents us with a chance to promote what these 17 goals are and how nurses around the world can take the lead and achieve the goals. Nurses are already making important responses to the challenges raised despite being very often overworked, poorly paid, under-resourced and exhausted. There are millions of nurses around the world who are already (perhaps unbeknown to them) making an important contribution to the success of sustainable development goals and helping to make good health and wellbeing a reality for billions of people across the globe. Without nurses leading these important sustainable development goals, they will come to nothing. Leading, achieving and sustaining—this is what we do. Nurses are a force for change as they work tirelessly to ensure the resilience of health systems at home and internationally. At the annual BJN Awards nurses are recognised and nursing is celebrated in style. In the 2017 Nursing: it’s just what we do