On 12 May we celebrate International Nurses Day. Created in 1965 by the International Council of Nurses (ICN), the day coincides with the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth (the founder of modern nursing).

During the celebrations Nurses are urged to build up links with local communities, including schools aiming to offer career advice and encouraging students to join the medical profession.

The Royal College of Nursing highlighted patient stories to demonstrate the “positive impact that nurses can have for people during extremely difficult times in their lives”.

Elisabeth Segal, a patient at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London,  shared her story with the RCN about celebrating breast care nurses, especially her primary breast care nurse Suzanne England and her secondary breast care nurse Diane Mackie.

She said: “Suzanne and Dianne have supported me, helped me and I could not have coped without either one of them.”

Ms England added: “Often in our busy working lives, finding the time to realise the value of what we do and why we do it is forgotten. Nurses’ day is the ideal opportunity for each and every nurse to think about what is fundamentally important within their role and what they achieve every day.”

Read more about other inspiring nurse’s stories from Macmillan and discover all the ways you can say thank you as we celebrate International Nurses day with #thankanurse.