Nurses at the heart of health: celebrating care and clean hands in Lao PDR

In May 2026, health facilities across Vientiane Province, Bolikhamxay, Khammouane and Bokeo provinces marked International Nurses Day and World Hand Hygiene Day with celebrations that were anything but ordinary. With the support of the Health and Nutrition Programme, nurses, healthcare staff and communities came together to showcase the transformative impact of nursing on quality care, infection prevention and the resilience of health systems across Lao PDR.

Nurses across four provinces emphasised a key message : that nurses are the heart and backbone of the Lao healthcare system, serving as the primary link between rural communities and life-saving care.

Fellow nurse teams echoed the same message. Many nurses work alone in remote areas, with limited equipment and support, yet they adapt quickly, solve problems independently, and care for patients not only medically but also emotionally. It is these nurses who, day after day, deliver essential care and strengthen health systems in areas where access remains challenging. Beyond treatment and clinical care, they are educators, prevention advocates, and community trust-builders. This dedication, resilience, and sacrifice, which often remain unseen, deserve far greater recognition and support.

The nurses who shared their stories this year spoke not only of challenges, but of transformation, gratitude, pride, and a clear commitment to strengthening healthcare systems in close cooperation with the Health and nutrition programme’s support.

Across provinces, this partnership with the programme has created tangible change at every level of the health system. As illustrated below, investments in professional training, supportive supervision, and clinical skill-building have built a more confident nursing workforce, with measurable results in care quality, infection prevention and service delivery.

The stories from the different provinces bring that picture to life. In Bokeo, nurses and midwives report better training, resources, and mentoring. In Khammouane, clinical practice, leadership and the application of standards have been strengthened, while patient safety awareness has grown. In Vientiane Province, the hospital has been approved as an accredited training centre, allowing nurses to earn Continuing Professional Development credits and renew their professional licences closer to home.

For this special celebration, nurses, health staff and communities came together for a full day of ceremonies, learning, and public outreach. Each hospital designed their own, unique events, all of which carried the same spirit : to honour the nursing profession, raise public awareness of health and hygiene, and create space for nurses to share, reflect, and be recognised for the work they do every day. 

In Bolikhamxay Provincial Hospital, nurses in pink scrubs from different departments, such as the Paediatric Department and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, took to the stage, which was decorated with hand hygiene posters, to perform a hand-washing dance for a crowd of nearly a hundred colleagues and patients.

The hand hygiene dance competition was a creative activity that helped make health education more engaging and accessible, especially for young people and healthcare staff. It transformed hand-washing education into a fun and memorable experience that encouraged people to practice proper hand hygiene in their daily lives. 

In Khammouane, the public awareness walk brought together healthcare staff and community members to promote proper hand hygiene and responsible waste disposal. This symbolically powerful walk served as a visible and accessible reminder that infection prevention begins not only in the clinic, but also in everyday life.

The provincial hospital in Vientiane strategically held a Nursing Innovation Competition to celebrate “nurses not just as caregivers, but as proactive leaders and innovators in infection prevention, ” as Nootjareerat CHUTHONGRAT, Senior Nurse Trainer Adviser in the Health and nutrition programme, remarked.

Reflecting on what the competition unlocked, Ms Somphou PHIMMANH, Head of Hospital Administration, said :

For district hospital nurses, this activity was not only educational but also a testament to the ambition and creativity of nurses. 

In Bokeo Provincial Hospital, nurses and healthcare staff came together to celebrate nurses’ dedication, resilience and hard work by providing free health checks and reflecting on the importance of hand hygiene as a simple yet powerful tool in providing safe care and infection prevention.

A unity lunch allowed for healthcare staff to connect across facilities and functions, strengthening the bonds that make a health system more than just the sum of its parts. 

The 2026 International Nurses Day was a powerful reminder of the irreplaceable role nurses play in Lao PDR’s hospitals and communities. The events united healthcare staff under a common goal : to continue acknowledging and celebrating the profession built on compassion, dedication, shared responsibility, and a collective commitment to building safer, more resilient health systems through continuous improvement.

Amid continuous improvements in Lao PDR’s health systems, nurses across provinces are clear about what drives them : not the progress itself, but the people behind it. Providing better care is a source of pride for nurses, and wherever they are, they share the same goal : to care for people with compassion, dignity and professionalism.

To the nurses of Lao PDR : International Nurses Day honours your legacy, but your future is being shaped right now. Your work is seen. Your dedication matters. And the communities you serve are healthier, every day, thanks to you.

The Health and nutrition programme is financed by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and jointly implemented by the Ministry of Health of the Lao PDR and LuxDev, the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency.