Kate Middleton Knows the True Value of Nurses

The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, is a champion for nurses worldwide. Middleton is currently launching a global campaign, aiming to give nurses the recognition as the "lynchpins” of care.

Middleton’s great-grandmother was a nurse during WWI, so it's safe to say that Kate knows the importance of nurses firsthand. The Duchess is working with nurses closely to raise their profile and their status.

Kate’s Efforts to Bring Recognition to Nurses

Late in February 2018, Kate gave a speech at the launch of Nursing Now, a global campaign to credit nurses as crucial to healthcare.

Kate’s great-grandmother, Olive Middleton worked as a nurse and cared for the wounded after the Leeds estate that belonged to a cousin was made into a field hospital.

At the estate, Glenbow Hall, Olive nursed severely wounded men from the Western front and was exposed to the horrors of WWI. The work of her great-grandmother, as well as her grandmother, inspired Kate to take on the goal of empowering nurses everywhere.

At the time of the Duchess’s speech, she was pregnant with her third child, who she recently delivered and named Louis, and her speech praised the nursing profession. Kate emphasized the importance of nurses being listed as leaders in the medical field.

On the same day, the Duchess visited the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists or RCOG to attend an event emphasizing maternal and newborn mortality, women’s health concerns and contraception.

The Duchess' attending and speaking at these events is a new direction and aligns her closely with issues that are both serious and important to women’s health.

The Duchess also concentrates on maternal mental health and the well-being of children. She realizes that Nursing Now is tied into the important work of nurses in other areas of her special interests.

Timeline of the Duchess’ Interest in Nursing

Her husband, the Duke of Cambridge, William, worked as a pilot regularly searching and rescuing those with medical issues. He previously spoke about the trauma of flying to his first call to a suicide while working alongside a flight nurse. His experience further influenced the Duchess to embark on a campaign to show that nurses are the front line of defense in medical care.

To further her knowledge about nursing, the Duchess joined a roundtable discussion with nurses from around the globe and at different levels of career performance to “find out what it means to be a 21st-century nurse.”

Then, Kate spoke at the launch of a three-year Nursing Now campaign. This campaign’s goal is to give nurses the recognition and the power to improve world health and contribute to gender equality. It is the Duchess’ opinion that nursing will help build stronger economies through healthcare.

Read on to learn why the Duchess of Cambridge is trying to rally more support for nurses worldwide.

Photo source: The Look of Kate Middleton