Nurses, as the key health professionals, are in a unique position to act as powerful advocates for a healthy planet.... As nurses and midwives already constitute up to 80% of the qualified health workforce in most national health systems, they represent a potentially powerful force for bringing about the necessary changes to meet the needs of Health for All in the 21st century. Indeed, their contribution to health services covers the whole spectrum of health care... It is clear that nurses are the backbone of most health care teams.

At the International Council of Nurses Centennial Conference in June 1999. Awake! magazine 2000, 11/8