May 12th is International Nurses Day.  Since 1965, it has been a day to mark the contributions that nurses make to society.  May 12th was chosen because it is the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale.

The theme for International Nurses Day 2020 is A voice to lead:  Nursing the world to heal. A fitting theme for this (so far) sucky pandemic year.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize my fellow nurses and also doctors, first responders, lab and radiology techs, respiratory techs (Yes, especially the RT’s!), housekeeping staff, delivery drivers, mail carriers, everyone in the food distribution chain, and all other essential workers.  Sending much love and gratitude to you all!

Street artists have also been showing the love.  ‘Super Nurse’ is a stencil art mural by Dutch urban artist FAKE.  The artist is offering the image as a free downloadable PDF with a customizable background from his website Highonspraypaint to share with healthcare professionals, give as a gift, or put up in the workplace.

‘We can do it/ce la faremo‘ is Sicilian street artist TVBoy’s health care professional image released for italian labour day, May 1 as a ‘tribute to all health workers who have not spared themselves in these months and worked with courage and dedication, as always, even if we have only realized now the importance they have in our lives’.  I like to call her Rosie because she is posing like the WWII poster of Rosie the Riveter!

The cover image Guardian Angels/Angeli Custodi, is also by TV Boy, aka Salvatore Benintende.  TVBoy and Banksy were also featured in the post Napoli Street Art.

Banksy’s newest work ‘Game Changer’ is a beautiful image.  A child ditches his makebelieve superhero action figures to play with a real one….Sock Monkey Super Nurse to the rescue!  He has donated the work to  Southhampton Hospital to be auctioned off to raise funds for health services.

Happy Nurses Day everyone!  Please share the love and kindness.

Images from the artists’ instagram accounts @iamfake, @banksy, @tvboy.

Ciao, Cristina