Historical Development Of Nursing Timeline Essay

For decades, America has fought in many different wars with the need of health assistance for their soldiers. The American Red Cross is a worldwide organization that helped during the times of war but also provided a path for scientific advancements. Through the American Red Cross and other organizations of this time, they opened up the doors for women to take the chance to advance in the medical field by participating in scientific experiments and being at the aide of wounded soldiers. During this time of scrutiny, the Great War was a hidden opportunity for the encroachment of medical research with the contribution to the expansion of nursing.

Nursing care was unscientific and consisted of assisting patients with usual body functions; and was typically administered by women of a religious order or by women who by nature of their lifestyle frequented hospitals. Hospital care was for the poor and destitute; since home based medical care was better than risking additional infections in the dirty, crowded, and disease-ridden hospitals. During the typhus epidemic of 1852, hospital staff and patients suffered the greatest morbidity and mortality. (Ranade , 199817-19)

Determination and great effort are some of the words that come to mind when reviewing some of the heroic acts by the great nursing pioneers. World War I brought out to light amazing people. There was great necessity for medical assistance in the battlefield and outside the battlegrounds (Nies and McEwen 2011). Mary Breckenridge is an example of the women whom influenced in medical care of the wounded during the war. Aside from establishing the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS), Mary Breckenridge moved to the rural areas following her passion to care for disadvantaged women and children (Stanhope and Lancaster,

Changes in the late 1800's resulted in universities admitting women, thus allowing them to explore many more educational opportunities. These factors together provided the impetus for establishment of hospitals and schools to formally train nurses, with many schools opening for the first time in the 1870s. At the same time, though the need for nurses had been established and the importance of their role within the realm of medical care recognized, there was a great deal of opposition to the proposal that nurses should be formally educated. This attitude was epitomized by a well-known article of the time published in 1908, 'The over-trained nurse' in which the author asserted that nursing was not a “profession” but merely an “honorable calling”. Consistent with this notion, public perception viewed nursing as a job that women were generally suited to perform rather than one which required special skill and was even equated with a religious “calling”. This view, influenced by early nursing's relationship with religious orders remained far into the 20th century.(Lasseter, 1999).

Florence Nightingale recognised the need to educate nurses so as to achieve optimum care for the sick. As a result Florence carried out research in sanitation and health to improve the nursing practice. She also developed a curriculum that was used to educate nurses (Younge & Niekerk, 2004).

One aspect of nursing that has changed since the early 1800’s is nursing education. There was no question about the credibility of the women providing care to soldiers after the war. For many years untrained nurses and consequently nursing students cared the sick without any supervision. In 1873, the need for educated nurses was sought but was opposed by untrained physicians who thought trained nurses would pose a threat to their jobs (Gary & Hott, 1988). “Nurses have evolved

During the Civil War nurses served in the Confederate and Union hospitals. Other than working in the hospital taking care of wounded soldiers they also served near the front line of the battle and on the battlefield. After the war had begun Simon Cameron, Secretary of War under President Abraham Lincoln, gained so much respect for the women nurses that he appointed Dorothea Dix as “Superintendent of Women Nurses for the Union Army.” Although, Dorothea Dix did not have the proper education prior to her new role as superintendent, she however, had obtained organizational skills by work in a “prison and asylum taking care of the mentally ill.” Dorothea Dix took the the role of superintendent of Union nurses very serious. Dix set quite a few rules and regulations for women who volunteered as nurses. “Dix wanted a minimum age of thirty for her volunteers and she demanded they are plain looking women.” Dorothea Dix was indeed a hard working woman who wanted to strive for the best.

During the Civil War, women accepted the generally male occupation of nurses. Nursing was one of the most significant ways that women contributed to the war. It is estimated that over 3,000 women volunteered as nurses during the Civil War. According to Women in the Civil War, “so many women eagerly volunteered for the job, they earned a nickname from the press, Florence Nightingales”. Until the Civil War, women rarely worked as nurses outside the home. Whether on the side of the Confederate or the Union women took care of the wounded the best they could. Huge causalities on both sides meant everyone was directly affected by the war, even those living far from the battlefields. In many places in the South, where most of the fighting took place, every available building became hospitals, and women

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.

Florence Nightingale is known as the pioneer of nursing and evidence- based health care. Many believe that she was the founder of what we call modern nursing today. During her time as a nurse she had founded her school of nursing at St. Thomas Hospital in 1860 as well she wrote many nursing books such as Notes on Nursing wrote in

Events’’ media piece is Florence Nightingale. She was the founding mother of modern nursing and she organized advanced nursing education and developed measurers to analyze disease and mortality rate. The second trends from Nursing Timeline of Historical Events’’ media piece is Mary Eliza. She was the first black professional nurse and graduated from New England Hospital in 1879. Mahoney is known for her significant contribution to the professional nursing organization. The Mary Mahoney award is given by ANA of outstanding

The earliest nurses never attended nursing school; they were often nuns or other women who provided care for the sick, poor, or homeless without family support (The history of Nursing, 2017). During the 18th and 19th centuries, the nursing profession expanded to include care of soldiers during many prominent wars (The History of Nursing, 2017). Florence Nightingale was a nurse during the Crimean War. The conditions she found soldiers in were deplorable. At this time she found that keeping these soldiers clean would lead to healing. She also began tending to them at all hours of the day. Upon her return to England, she wrote a report on her findings that helped reform health care. Years later, she started the Nightingale School for Nurses. After this several nursing schools began in the United States and were all founded on Nightingale’s ideas. The Civil War gave enormous impetus to the building of hospitals and to the development of nursing as a credentialed profession (Weathorford, 2010). One of the pioneers during this time was Clara Barton. By serving during the war she understood the need for clothing, food and shelter. She developed The Red Cross to be a program to aid those affected by

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 1860, Florence's dream was finally realized when the Nightingale Training School for Nurses opened. This was the first formal, fully organized training program for nurses. Graduates of the program went into the four corners of the world to teach other nurses and were highly sought by hospitals. While Florence Nightingale did not invent the profession of nursing, she was a living memorial to it and forever will have a place and influence in the history of nursing.

Florence Nightingale, a well-educated nurse, was recruited along with 38 other nurses for service in a hospital called Scutari during the Crimean War in 1854 . It was Nightingale's approaches to nursing that produced amazing results. Florence Nightingale was responsible for crucial changes in hospital protocol, a new view on the capabilities and potential of women, and the creation of a model of standards that all future nurses could aspire towards.