Today was declared International Nurses’ Day by Health Minister Zane DeSilva, who paid tribute to Bermuda’s nearly 600 nurses in a ceremony at City Hall.Beverly Brangman, the 2011 nurse of the year, used the occasion to announce a Nursing Expo to be held on May 18, to recruit young Bermudians into the profession.Mr DeSilva said: “The demand for nursing services will be greater than ever because of the aging of Bermuda’s population, the continuing expansion of life-sustaining technology, and the growth of home health care services.”Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson pointed out the world shortage of nurses.“Worldwide, the nursing profession will have a huge shortage by the end of this decade,” she said. “A shortage of nursing educators resulted in schools in the US rejecting more than 147,000 qualified applicants to nursing programmes in 2005.”Bermuda’s turnover rate for nurses is low, said the Bermuda Hospitals Board chief nurse for quality and risk Judy Richardson.“We are doing much better with our retention of local nurses,” she said.The May 18 Nursing Expo is to be held at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, between 10am and 4pm.As well as declaring May 12 Nurses’ Day, Mr DeSilva recognised May as Nurses’ Month.May 12 is the birthday of Florence Nightingale, considered a founder of the modern nursing profession.Useful web link: www.bhb.bm