The South Belfast MLA said the Nursing Now campaign was an “outstanding initiative” which would help demonstrate nurses can have a direct and positive role in improving not just health, but also social and economic outcomes.
“One key area is in working to counter the negative health effects of homelessness in the broadest sense,” she said.
“The campaign will also rightly focus on challenging childhood obesity and mental ill-health, and recognising the vital role of nurses in these areas.
“The public perception of nurses is already rightly very high, but the outcome of this campaign will be to demonstrate the role of nursing can be much broader than we think, and can have a very wide and positive impact.”