The theme for International Nurses’ Day this year focuses on caring for nurses in order to maximise their contribution and impact.
The International Council of Nurses (ICN) confirms the critical role that a healthy nursing workforce enjoys in strengthening economies, improving health systems and ensuring better outcomes for communities worldwide (https://www.icn.ch/news/icn-puts-wellbeing-nurses-centre-international-nurses-day-2025), a position that St Christopher’s would want to utterly endorse. This stance is not simply one that is ideological in nature.
Nurses work with people at home and in the inpatient unit; educate and train other professionals as well as family members and carers. They are focused on helping people live, die and grieve well, with attention also to the wellbeing and confidence of their colleagues across the system who contribute to their care.
Stories of Yangden and Halima, nursing colleagues in Bhutan and Sudan, tell a different but related story. Against the odds they are making a significant difference to the experience of people who face the end of life or who are bereaved. Both work in under-resourced areas and Halima’s work is further hampered by the war in her country.
Nurses need care themselves to maintain their wellbeing and achieve maximum impact
These are such positive stories of palliative nursing, but we would be naïve not to attend to the potential impact of the demands on all these nurses to their wellbeing.
The ICN is right to highlight the importance of caring for these nurses in order that they can care well for others.
The emerging question is how to do this best, acknowledging that nurses will usually look out for others before themselves, have little time to dedicate to their self-care alongside other urgent and important tasks, and can fail to recognise the toll on their health and wellbeing until they are near burn-out.
St Christopher’s working with ShinyMind can help
In response, St Christopher’s has been working on a possible solution for nurses and their colleagues, which it is able to make available to 3000 colleagues in palliative care, thanks to the generosity of one of its donors Tyrrell Evans, his family and friends.
They had raised funds in memory of Sian, Tyrrell’s wife who worked as a nurse and counsellor, and died under the care of St Christopher’s. “Team Sian” and the hospice has joined forces with ShinyMind, an innovative organisation which has been working on a mental health and wellbeing app for NHS staff.
Its team, led by a visionary psychotherapist Bec has developed a rich resource for nurses and others that offers bite size, easy-to-use resources including short videos, audio clips, and interactive tools to support clinicians on the front line.
ShinyMind is expert in supporting nurses
ShinyMind is already well used within the NHS by over thousands of nurses. All resources are backed by psychological research and are designed to support the wellbeing of hospice staff while also strengthening their ability to provide high-quality care.
Its scope has now been extended to include a special masterclass on end of life, with a related invitation to hospice colleagues working outside the NHS.
The kind of topics covered in the masterclass include building confidence, managing emotions and setting boundaries, reflecting on experiences and coping with grief and loss.
What makes the work around end of life care particularly pertinent is that it’s been shaped by the very people it’s designed to help. Hospice nurses, care workers, and other professionals shared their personal experiences and challenges to help build a Masterclass that truly reflects their needs. The content was refined with their feedback to make sure it was relevant, practical, and supportive.
Act on the offer
Download the app today, its free, and start your journey to better mental health and wellbeing. Please share this information with your colleagues as well. The offer is time limited.
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