Nursing heroism in the 21st Century'

Is heroism a legitimate part of nursing, or are nurses simply 'just doing their job' even when facing extreme personal danger? In this paper I explore the place and relevance of heroism in contemporary nursing. I propose that nursing heroism deserves a broader appreciation and that within the term lie many hidden, 'unsung' or 'unrecorded' heroisms. I also challenge the critiques of heroism that would condemn it as part of a 'militarisation' of nursing. Finally, I argue that nursing needs to be more open in celebrating our heroes and the transformative power of nursing achievements.The language of heroism may sound quaint by 21st Century standards but nursing heroism is alive and well in the best of our contemporary nursing ethos and practice.Any author addressing the topic of "Nursing Heroics: what it means in the 21st Century" faces a challenge and even more so when they take this on as the Vivian Bullwinkel Memorial Lecture.They are perhaps doomed before they begin, for what modern day nursing heroism outside of a war zone is ever going to be able to withstand comparison with the experiences of Sister Bullwinkel and her colleagues - during the fall of Singapore, the sinking of the Vyner Brooke, the murderous machine gunning of Vivian and her 21 fellow nurses on Radji Beach and her years of internment in the death camps of Sumatra.[1-3]Somehow, to mention any other forms of heroism in the same breath seems almost disrespectful, a feat of linguistic relativism designed to dilute or trivialize the power of the term. But please, bear with me as I explore the idea and the practices of nursing heroism in our current age.First, the more traditional concept of heroism as courage and providing service to others in the face of extreme personal danger is undoubtedly alive and well in nursing and in other human services. Firemen still enter burning buildings to save their occupants and nurses still join their health care colleagues in providing care to the hungry, the fearful