Nurses Week

2025 National Nurses Week 

May 6 – 12

We are excited to celebrate National Nurses Week with you here at UVA Health University Medical Center! A variety of events and opportunities are available for you to participate in. Look for details and more information about them throughout the week using the links in the right columns and click below for a full calendar of events:   

2025 Evidence-Based Practice Symposium | May 6, at UVA North Fork Discovery Park.                       Registration in Workday required.  Click here for a printable flyer.

2025 Annual Nursing Excellence Awards | May 8, at DoubleTree Hotel, 1600-1900

What is National Nurses Week?

National Nurses Week is an important opportunity for communities to recognize the contributions that nurses make in a variety of roles in both healthcare and non-healthcare settings.

The idea of Nurses Week began in the early 1950s but was not formally celebrated until the mid-1970s. In 1974, the International Council of Nurses declared May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday, to be International Nurses Day. In 1982, the American Nurses Association declared May 6 as National Nurses Day. The ANA then designated May 6-12 to be National Nurses Week in 1990.

Florence Nightingale is often referred to as the founder of modern nursing, laying the foundation of professional nursing using statistics and writing to share her work, outcomes, and new knowledge.

“Let us never consider ourselves finished nurses. We must be learning all of our lives.”

Florence Nightingale