Separation anxiety is well documented in babies and toddlers, we can all visualise the crying toddler being dropped off at nursery, or the way your babies face crumples when you get up to go to the loo, as if you’re heading off on a one-way trip never to be seen again. But what about us as the caregivers? The people who are meant to have enough emotional development and maturity to understand that we will see our child again come 5pm once we’ve finished work. The person who’s meant to be the rational one, the voice of reassurance.

I vividly remember the moment it struck me how deeply engrained gender disparity is within healthcare and the society we live in. I was an A&E nurse who had just learned the ECG (Electrocardiogram, a widely used diagnostic tool for checking electrical activity of the heart) machines we use were pre-set to think all patients were 40-year-old males. It blew my mind.

This week marks international nurse’s week, ahead of nurse’s day on the 12^th May. A time to celebrate the profession of nursing across the globe.

Many people still think of nursing as traditionally bedside, perhaps on a ward providing inpatient care or working alongside a physician. While this is still a crucial and incredibly valuable form of nursing, there have been developments to use our skills: clinical expertise, critical thinking and multi-disciplinary working to name a few, in more dynamic ways.

All UK nurses, midwives and nursing associates will be familiar with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Code (2023). The set of standards that encapsulate the expectations of anyone wishing to join the professional register.