Additional file 1: The GLEaMviz computational tool: Additional File. This file includes information for installing the GLEaMviz Client and details of the features of its various components. Nursing heroism in the 21(st )Century' BACKGROUND: The Vivian Bullwinkel Oration honours the life and work of an extraordinary nurse. Given her story and that of her World War II colleagues, the topic of nursing heroism in the 21(st )century could not be more germane. DISCUSSION: 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. SUMMARY: The language of heroism may sound quaint by 21(st )Century standards but nursing heroism is alive and well in the best of our contemporary nursing ethos and practice. Today's nursing heroism 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, the injured and the dying in both natural disaster areas and man made conflict zones. Haitian nursing students and faculty from the Episcopal University of Haiti, were setting up first aid stations to help the victims of their city 30 minutes after that country's massive earthquake [4] . Military nurses and nurses from voluntary organisations such as Red Cross and Medicine Sans Frontiers are found in every war zone, every famine-blighted country, every dictatorial wasteland, every manifestation of 'hell on earth'. We fervently wish that the circumstances that draw them away from their own families and homes to these places did not exist, but they do, and thankfully, these nurses continue to respond.