Nightingale had the power and was in the right position to establish modern nursing (Stein 1998). Nightingale said, “Let us never consider ourselves as finished nurses…we must be learning all our lives”. In the years of 1860 through 1899 the Unites States laid the groundwork for nursing. Following England’s format, the school of nursing would remain separate from the hospital, so that the educational needs would be kept separate from patient needs. The first doctoral program for nursing was instituted at the university of Pittsburg in 1954 (Stein 1998). In today’s society, the education and learning of nurses consist of programs, offerings, and independent studies in order to broaden a nurse’s ability (Stein 1998). The education required to become a register nurse today is, a Bachelor in science degree along with a nursing degree.
In 1860, Florence Nightingale founded the first modern nursing school to break the stigma of previous nursing views and provide appropriate training to nurses (Finkelman & Kenner, 2016). Since then, the nursing profession has dramatically evolved over the last centuries.
In the U.S nursing officially began in the early 1700’s when the first almshouse was opened in Philadelphia. It continues to expand because of the fear from local governments of diseases spreading to the wealthier population. But due to the funding nurses didn’t have proper training. Also, the only roles for the nurse within the hospitals during this period of time was primarily tending the elderly and those with sicknesses, such as the flu and the common cold. The almshouses were rarely equipped to deal with any actual illnesses. However, most nurses spent their time tending to soldier’s wounds within the Civil War, as well as joining the American Red Cross after the war. It wasn’t until the 20th century that actual progress and modernization
It was the twentieth century when two-thousand hospitals were put up in the United States. After the wars ended, there were few nursing jobs because of the large number of nurses. As a result, nursing became an “honorable profession,” which required college degrees. Technological advances were well thought out and processed as nursing began to thrive. People began to study an environment in which the sick healed. Scientists and doctors developed a routine that would help them study the human body more precisely.
The nursing profession became a recognized vocational during the crusades (1100 to 1200). Criminals, widows, and orphans were recruited to take care of the sick in exchange for housing and food. Health care conditions became extremely bad. In the mid 1800s Florence Nightingale a woman who studied in Germany with a Protestant order of woman who cared for the sick lowered the death rate from 60% to 1%. She train a group of woman to care for the sick and wounded. She believed that cleaning up the environment and providing ventilation and sanitation and proper nutrition will decrease the death rate which she succeeded. Florence Nightingale kept records and statistics that reinforced her believes of care. Many
Cherry and Jacob state that Nightingale “introduced principles of asepsis and infection control, a system for transcribing physician’s orders, and a procedure to maintain patient records” (Cherry & Jacob, 2014, p. 8). Florence Nightingale also established the first nursing school in 1860 at the St. Thomas’ Hospital of London (Cherry & Jacob, 2014). Not only is Nightingale the founder of professional nursing, she is also recognized for contributing to nursing research, involvement in political activism, and for her establishment to provide formal nursing education to pursing nurses (Cherry & Jacob, 2014).
The nursing field has grown in so many way since the 1900s. A little background about the nursing field… Taking care of the sick was believed that it was caused by sin so nursing was looked at as a religious calling. Around this time, hospitals were built and nursing became recognized as vocational. Around the 1800s, Florence Nightingale changed the nursing field. She was the woman who founded the most important part in infection control, sanitation and sterilization. This lowered the death rate from 60% to 1%. This also opened the door for her to train and educate other women by opening up her first Nightingale training school. This built the foundation what the nursing field is about today.
Florence Nightingale is considered the founder of modern nursing. She also created the first educational system for nurses. Prior to Nightingale’s nursing education program, there was no formal preparation or organized training programs for nurses. Nursing was not recognized as an academic discipline (Alligood, 2014, p. 6). Nursing care was provided by the family, nuns and religious servants, or self-trained women who were held in low regard by society. Nursing was considered domestic work and not a profession. “Nightingale revolutionized and professionalized nursing by stressing that nursing was not a domestic, charitable service but a respected occupation requiring advanced education” (Black, 2014, p. 134). In 1860, the Nightingale School of Nursing, at St. Thomas Hospital in London, was established for the education of professional nurses. This nursing program differed from earlier programs in that nursing students received theory classes along with clinical experiences in the hospital. “Nightingale emphasized the need to blend a mixture of theoretical and clinical experiences as part of the educational package” (Selanders, 2010, p. 84). They used a specific curriculum that ensured that the students would receive training in the various aspects of nursing care for
The idea of nursing actually pre-dates the 19th century, but the first professional nurse is Florence Nightingale. Traditionally, only sick people with families could get the level of care needed, but Nightingale realized the mistake in that assumption. If one didn’t have a family they couldn’t get the correct level of care. During the Crimean War, Nightingale helped clean the soldier’s wounds, provide wholesome food, and generally keep the wounded tent clean. This drastically reduced the amount of casualties and thus the idea of professional nurses was born. A few years down the road, physicians gave nurses a more in-depth education
People may wonder who established nursing, led efforts to improve the standards of care, and education of nursing for the future. Would the medical profession be this far in its studies, development, and care without the person who improved it? Without Florence Nightingale, the nursing profession would not be as far developed as it has become. Nightingale is known to be self-sacrificing, caring, devout, and passionate because of her dedication to change the care in hospitals and the battlefield for the better and overall improved the nursing profession dramatically. Florence Nightingale strove to improve the care for others and to advance the education of nursing up until the end of her life.
In 1873 there were four hospitals with a school of nursing with in them. These hospitals were the New England Hospital for Women and Children; Massachusetts General Hospital; New Haven Hospital; and Bellevue Hospital.( 1996.Nursing. Dictionary of American History) The number of hospitals and hospital with nursing schools inside of them increased, because the hospitals soon found that the mortality and morbidity decreased with improved nursing care.( Nursing. Dictionary of American History) The shaping and molding of the nursing profession made the hospitals that we know today to be possible. In the 1860’s and 1870’s more Americans went to the hospitals for treatment because of the emphasis on hospital cleanliness, and the professional nurse.( Kellison, Kimberly. 1997-1998) Mary Eliza Mahoney became the first black graduate nurse in 1879.( Hine, Darlene,C., 1996) From 1893 to 1900 the number of nursing schools inside hospitals increased 225 to 432, and the number of hospitals increased from 178 to over 4000.( 1996.Nursing. Dictionary of American History) Nursing became considerably more popular and “by 1920, 54,953 women were in nursing
The concept of nursing has been around for a very long time. Nurturing and caring is a part of human nature. Cultures throughout history have had people that cared for the sick but it wasn’t really until after Florence Nightingale’s experiences in the Crimean War that nursing really began to develop as a profession. In 1860 she established the Nightingale Training School for Nurses at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London. This was a very important milestone because was the first organized training program for nurse. Nightingale also developed the Nightingale pledge which is a variation of the Hippocratic Oath for nurses (Donahue, 2011).
In the world history of nursing, roots can be traced to religion, mythology, and Eastern and Western societies. The ancient Egyptians utilized perhaps the first formal nurses, hiring them to assist in childbirth. It is from these beginnings that today's midwives evolved.
. In 1961, Beijing Second Medical College established a department of nursing to enroll working nurses for further education (Chen, 1996; Yu, Xu & Zhang, 2000).
Florence Nightingale is recognized as the first nurse theorist. She described nursing as both an art and a science. She recommended adjusting the environment to improve the person’s health. Theory development began with