Although 2020 was the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, none of us could have predicted the extent to which the invaluable work of our health professionals would take centre stage.

Here we reflect on a very eventful twelve monthsâ?¦

The Year of the Nurse and Midwife was officially launched on January 17, with posters depicting the history and diversity of the professions on display in the main entrance at Noble’s Hospital.

Later that month, nurses from the hospital, community, and mental health services; visited Henry Bloom Noble Primary School to promote nursing and to speak to children about their varied roles.

In February, the ’My Nurse is the Best’ competition encouraged youngsters to nominate their favourite nurse and to share details of the great work they did.

Ward 2 nurse Lisa Kitching was announced the winner after her children took great pride in describing how their mum worked long hours, did lots of studying and cared for patients with burns.

A surprise visit to Ward 2 was arranged where the director of nursing, Cath Quilliam, accompanied Lisa’s family to present her with gifts kindly donated by Shoprite and Pepsi Max Bowl.

In March, members of the Laxey Miner Birds Women’s Institute were treated to an engaging talk, on the history of Isle of Man mental health services by the head of care, quality and safety, Paul Hurst.

Having been in the nursing profession for more than 30 years, Paul had countless tales to tell and, although some of his anecdotes were light-hearted, a number of them served to highlight the challenges associated with caring for patients with enduring mental health needs.

Ramsey Cottage Hospital was the venue for the Multicultural Mann session (held on March 6) where the Minister for Health and Social Care David Ashford and Cath Quilliam met with some of the island’s overseas nurses to thank them for choosing to work on the island, and to discuss any problems they experienced whilst relocating here.

As well as proving invaluable for networking, feedback from the session will be used to assist overseas nurse recruitment strategies and to support health professionals who are planning to move to the Island.

On March 12, mental health nurses visited Ballaugh Beavers to promote their vital work in the community. The children engaged in a number of activities designed to highlight the importance of mental wellbeing and caring for others.

Sadly, March 19 saw a temporary halt to events as nursing staff were relocated to work on hastily established clinical units as part of the Government’s response to the developing coronavirus pandemic.

This included the opening of Ward 20 as a dedicated Covid ward, and the redeployment of nursing staff to help out with crises arising elsewhere in the hospital and community.

The need for early identification of those infected by the virus, led to the creation of a swabbing unit at the Grandstand. The department was staffed by employees from health services, education, leisure, and transport; all of whom worked tirelessly to control the spread of the disease.

Despite the lock down, Maxine Cannon (general manager from the Post Office) worked hard to ensure that the launch of a specially commissioned stamp collection went ahead as planned on Nurse’s Day (May 12).

A considerable amount of work had already gone into designing the stamps but hope of the project coming into fruition faded as Covid took a hold. Maxine, however, was keen to acknowledge the amazing work being undertaken by nurses, and midwives, and pushed ahead with the launch.

The collection contained eight stamps - each representing a core healthcare sector. The set also contained brief biographies of historic nursing characters who came to prominence on the Isle of Man.

With the pandemic over, and island life virtually back to normal, there was an opportunity to continue with Year of the Nurse and Midwife celebrations - the first of which was an audience with the Lieutenant Governor.

Held on October 13, his Excellency invited nurses and midwives, from all sectors, to a celebratory evening reception at Government House.

Later than month, about 100 nurses and midwives joined in the ’Lady with the Lamp’ evening procession.

Commencing at Noble’s in Strang, nurses - carrying lanterns visited four historic hospital sites across Douglas. Designed to demonstrate solidarity amongst the professions, the opportunity was also used to raise money for charity, and an impressive £915 was later donated to the Food Bank.

On October 27, His Worship the Mayor of Douglas also invited nurses to an evening reception in the Mayor’s Parlour where he, along with the Lady Mayoress, acknowledged the contribution health professionals had made during the pandemic.

In November, Minister Ashford joined a selection of nurses at Ballakermeen High School, where children gave a presentation on the life of Manx nursing heroine, Nelly Brennan.

The students were delighted to learn that Nelly would be recognised with a memorial garden in 2021.

Making the most the opportunity to promote a career in healthcare, the visitors gave children Year of the Nurse and Midwife pens and stickers along with information on nursing and the different types of work undertaken across the island.

The final Year of the Nurse and Midwife event was on December 17, when a group of student nurses attended the studios of Manx Radio to discuss their reasons for choosing nursing as a career.

They also had an opportunity to talk about their experiences during the pandemic.

Although not quite the year planned, 2020 very much belonged to nurses and midwives who, along with fellow health professionals, safely saw the island through the worst pandemic in living history.

Director of mursing Cath Quilliam summarised the tumultuous year: ’2020 served to illustrate the essential role of health professionals in a way no one could have imagined. I am immensely proud of the vital role nurses, midwives and support staff played during the pandemic; and the invaluable service they continue to deliver to the Manx population.’

Although the year was nearing an end, Cath confirmed that nurse recruitment would remain a priority for 2021.

’We will continue to promote nursing and midwifery as attractive professions for school-leavers and mature students alike,’ she said.

’We’re also very keen to dispel the myth that nursing is a female role, and would like to encourage boys and men to consider it as a career.’

To assist with the recruitment drive, school nurses plan to use the ’Future Nurse’ campaign (launched in the UK prior to the pandemic) to encourage girls and boys to take an interest in nursing or midwifery from a very young age.

The campaign involves nurses interacting with youngsters to discuss the vital role the professions play in keeping members of the community safe and healthy. Children will be provided with mini replica uniforms to help stimulate conversation about related subjects such as identity and responsibility.

It is hoped the Future Nurse Campaign will be introduced by spring of next year.

As the Year of the Nurse and Midwife draws to a close, event coordinator Amanda Phillips acknowledged those who had assisted during the year.

’I’d like to convey my sincere thanks to local companies who supported us,’ she said.

’I’d also like to thank Minister Ashford, for taking time to endorse our events; and Maxine Cannon, for her great work with the commemorative stamps.’

’The event would have been futile without publicity so I must give thanks to Marian Kenny for ensuring our activities were well publicised. I’m also extremely grateful to Richard Butt and Julie Blackburn at Isle of Man Newspapers - and to Manx Radio’s, Chris Sully - for their support throughout the year.’