Neuroscience Nursing: Strengthening Connections for Better WellBeing

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has designated the week of May 12^th each year as International Nurses Day, a time to celebrate and recognize the invaluable contributions nurses make to communities, health care systems and the people we serve. Recently, ICN released a report titled ‘International Nurses Day 2025: Caring for Nurses Strengthen Economies”, which highlights a deepening global nursing crisis and calling for immediate action to support nurses’ well-being. The “Caring for Nurses Agenda” report provides 7 priority actions in a clear, actionable framework to address the importance of investing in nurses’ well-being.

Neuroscience nurses inherently understand the significance of brain health and its impact on personal well-being. By focusing our own well-being, we can provide better care, improve practice environments, and lessen nurse burnout and workplace stress. Integral to our own well-being, is our connection with each other, building strength through unity, sharing knowledge and expertise and fostering collegial networks both professionally and personally. Simply put: the people we serve need us, and we need each other.

Despite the significant impact of global uncertainty on the nursing profession, neuroscience nurses continue to have positive influence on health care systems, both large and small, in the most difficult of circumstances. Our contributions are immeasurable and our unwavering commitment to the work we do together remains steadfast even in these challenging times. Small gestures of kindness and care can and do make a big difference as these connections are crucial for professional growth, personal well-being and resilience.

I hope you get the opportunity to read the ICN’s report and take from it, a belief that our professional connectivity offers us both professional and personal growth and energy in a world of uncertainty and change. In-person connections enrich our specialized body of knowledge and strengthens our human connections, allowing us to draw inspiration and support from one another.

I hope you will join me for intra-professional neuroscience nurses’ connections at the WFNN Quadrennial Congress in Darwin, Australia, from July 21-25, 2025.

Happy International Nurses Day!

Trudy

Trudy Robertson, RN, MSN, CNN(c) Neuroscience Clinical Nurse Specialist, CANN member

Secretary/Treasurer of the World Federation of Neuroscience Nurses

I acknowledge this editorial was composed from the traditional, ancestral and unceded lands of the k^wik^wəəm First Nation. I thank the k^wik^wəəm who continue to live on these lands and care for these lands, along with the waters and all that is above and below.