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President Droupadi Murmu honors 15 nurses with the 2025 National Florence Nightingale Awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

National Florence Nightingale Awards

It honors nurses for their outstanding contributions to healthcare. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare established these awards in 1973 to recognize nurses who demonstrate remarkable dedication, compassion, and service to society.

Each award includes: Certificate of Merit, Cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000, and medal.

The Ministry invites nominations from healthcare institutions, including hospitals, nursing schools, and medical colleges. A committee of eminent healthcare professionals reviews these nominations to ensure only the most deserving candidates receive the honor.  

About Florence Nightingale  

She was born in May 1820, in Italy, transforming nursing into a respected profession. Known as the “Lady with the Lamp,” she earned fame during the Crimean War (1853–1856) by organizing care for wounded soldiers in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul).

Nightingale revolutionizes healthcare

• Nursing Education: She established the Nightingale School of Nursing at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London in 1860, the world’s first secular, science-based nursing school. This school formalizes training, making nursing a skilled profession rather than a low-status job.
• Hospital Reforms: Nightingale introduces “Nightingale Wards,” designed to improve patient recovery through better ventilation, sanitation, and layout. 
• Statistical Innovation: A skilled statistician, Nightingale invents the “polar-area diagram” (or coxcomb chart) to visually represent data, showing how poor sanitation causes more soldier deaths than battlefield injuries. Her work earned her membership in the Royal Statistical Society in 1858, a rare honor for a woman at the time.
• Global Impact: She campaigns for better healthcare in India. Her advice shaped medical care in countries like the United States during the Civil War.

Despite battling a bacterial infection (likely brucellosis) that leaves her bedridden for much of her later life, Nightingale writes over 13,000 letters and publishes works like Notes on Nursing (1860), a foundational textbook for nurses.

Her received honors, including the Royal Red Cross (1883) and the Order of Merit (1907).

The International Committee of the Red Cross established the Florence Nightingale Medal in 1912, awarded every two years to nurses for exceptional courage or innovation in public health. In 2025, 35 nurses from 17 countries receive this medal.

International Nurses Day is celebrated on May 12 (Nightingale’s birthday) to honors her contributions.  

Source: 

PIB