The island will take part in a worldwide celebration of the work of nurses and midwives throughout 2020.

The World Health Organisation has designated 2020 as Year of the Nurse and Midwife (YOTN&M) in honour of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale.

This is to recognise the critical role they play in achieving universal health coverage.

January kicks off with a Past and Present exhibition showing nursing and midwifery over the last century. It’s hoped the celebrations will culminate with an awards ceremony in December.

Special events include school visits, afternoon teas with patients and retired nurses and midwives, plus the Queen’s Nurses will host a seminar in the summer called The Voice of Nursing.

Another event in the island will include the Lady with the Lamp evening walk, when nurses and midwives will visit the sites of the four general hospitals in Douglas holding lamps and raising money for charity as they go.

Director of nursing, Cath Quilliam, launched the YOTN&M at a conference this summer.

She said: ’This event is for all nurses and midwives past and present. We want everyone to be involved, including practitioners from the hospitals, the community and GP practices, hospice and private residential homes. Student nurses and health care assistants are all part of the nursing family too.

’By joining together to celebrate what we do, we’re promoting unity among the profession in the Isle of Man, showcasing our skills and encouraging more people to consider nursing or midwifery as a career.

’YOTN&M will be an invaluable opportunity to present the diversity of our profession to young people, so we will be speaking to school children, visiting the college to meet students on health and social care courses, and expanding our presence at the Villa Marina recruitment fair next autumn.’

She added: ’I’ve been really impressed with the enthusiasm of nursing colleagues for this project, and pay tribute to our dynamic organising committee who are busy making plans for 12 months of unique events and activities we can all look forward to.’

All nurses and midwives signed up to YOTN&M activities will be entered in prize draws held throughout the year with one lucky entrant winning an exclusive TT experience for two. This includes a TrikeTours trip, a visit to the Control Tower and dinner courtesy of Barbary Coast.

Money raised from the sale of tickets will be donated to the Joey Dunlop Foundation.

Plans are in the making to have the year’s activities published in a book, which will cover the history of nursing and midwifery in the island.