What is the history of Nursing Education?
The first educational focus in nursing started with the establishment of the first national nursing organization, the American Society of Superintendents for Training School Nurses in 1893.
Who was the first nurse in the United States?
1873 – Linda Richards graduates from the New England Hospital for Women and Children Training School for Nurses and officially becomes America's First Trained Nurse. 1873 – The first nursing school in the United States, based on Florence Nightingale's principles of nursing, opens at Bellevue Hospital, New York City.
How has the specialty of nursing professional development evolved?
The specialty of nursing professional development (NPD) has evolved over the years. The first educational focus in nursing started with the establishment of the first national nursing organization, the American Society of Superintendents for Training School Nurses in 1893.
How long has the nursing profession been around?
In essence, the nursing profession has very much been around since the beginning of time, though has drastically evolved over the course of history.
Who started the education of nurses?
Florence NightingaleAbstract. Florence Nightingale is considered to be the founder of modern nursing. She created a model of nursing education that has persisted for over 100 years. The Nightingale model of nursing education was used to develop early nursing programs in the United States.
Who began the history of professional nursing?
Florence NightingaleHistory of nursing. Although the origins of nursing predate the mid-19th century, the history of professional nursing traditionally begins with Florence Nightingale.
Who was the first professionally trained nurse?
Linda RichardsLinda Richards (July 27, 1841 – April 16, 1930) is generally considered the first professionally trained nurse in the United States. Richards graduated in 1873 from the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston. The Hospital was founded in 1862 for the exclusive use of women and children, and in 1872, Dr.
When was the start of nursing education?
The Beginnings of Nurse Education One such program was initiated in Pennsylvania where the Women's Hospital of Philadelphia offered a six months nurse training course, which graduated its first class in 1869.
When did nursing profession begin?
Nursing emerged as a profession in the mid-19th century. Historians credit Florence Nightingale, a well-educated woman from Britain, as the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale challenged social norms – and her wealthy parents – by becoming a nurse.
Who was the first known nurse?
Florence NightingaleFlorence Nightingale, the First Professional Nurse.
Who was the first registered nurse?
Ellen DoughertyEllen Dougherty was the first to be registered on January 10, 1902. She was the first Registered Nurse in the World. Ellen was greatly admired for her work, dedication and love for nursing.
Who is the first nurse in World?
Florence Nightingale, byname Lady with the Lamp, (born May 12, 1820, Florence [Italy]—died August 13, 1910, London, England), British nurse, statistician, and social reformer who was the foundational philosopher of modern nursing.
When did nursing start?
It is believed that the first recorded aspects of nursing place the inception of the profession during the height of the Roman empire, around 300 A.D. It was during this time that the Empire sought to place a hospital within every town under its rule.
Why was nursing important in the 1900s?
Around the early to late 1900’s, nursing was becoming more important than ever, as nurses were needed on the front lines of the many wars being waged, from the Crimean War to the Civil War. Nurses were sent to attend to the sick and wounded soldiers in battle.
How did Florence Nightingale change the world?
When looking at the rise of modern nursing within Europe, it’s important to note that Florence Nightingale helped to change the nature of the profession forever. Around the early to late 1900’s, nursing was becoming more important than ever, as nurses were needed on the front lines of the many wars being waged, from the Crimean War to the Civil War. Nurses were sent to attend to the sick and wounded soldiers in battle. Florence Nightingale began her illustrious nursing career as a nurse within the Crimean War that took place in the mid 1850’s, tending to injured soldiers on the battlefield. During this time, deaths from injuries were commonplace, due to the lack of general hygiene and the huge amount of fatal infections that resulted from these wounds.
What was nursing in the Middle Ages?
Nursing in the Middle Ages. When taking a glimpse at nursing in the Middle Ages, there were a myriad of advancements and innovations that were implemented within the nursing industry during these years, helping to form some of the roots of modern nursing.
What is the most important profession in the health care industry?
Today, nurses are one of the most important professions within the health care industry and are learned in a wide range of occupational duties that are utilized within a variety of settings throughout the world. Here’s an in-depth history of nursing and how it’s progressed to the state where it’s at today.
What were the areas of nursing in the 20th century?
The 20th century also paved the way for a larger and more expanded role for nurses, introducing a number of distinct areas in which nurses could specialize in, including such specialty care as orthopedics, trauma, critical care, pediatrics and neonatal nursing.
Why did the Emperor want hospitals?
The Emperor also demanded that hospitals should be attached to every cathedral and monastery within Europe, which helped to spur demand for even more nurses. It was during the dawn of the 10th and 11th centuries that nursing began to expand, due primarily to a number of different rulings within Europe.
What percentage of registered nurses have no curricular experience?
Currently, two-thirds of the registered nurse workforce are graduates of associate degree programs with no curricular experience in public health or environmental health and no clinical experience in these fields (Havens and Stevens, 1990).
What is the accreditation for nursing?
Higher education programs in nursing are accredited by regional accrediting bodies as part of the larger institutional accreditation process. Additionally, schools of nursing seek accreditation from the NLN at the associate degree, diploma, baccalaureate, and master's levels.
What are the courses required for a graduate nursing degree?
Increasingly, graduate nursing curricula include core courses such as health assessment, pharmacotherapeutics, health promotion, sociocultural and community health, health economics and policy, theory and ethics, as well as research. Specialty, leadership, and elective courses complete the requirements for the degree.
How to teach environmental health?
The following are examples of how environmental health content can be incorporated into existing courses that are usually considered prerequisites to the professional nursing curriculum: 1 include effects of environmental toxicants in a growth and development course; 2 include the mechanisms and action of chemicals in the environment that effect health (radon, formaldehyde) in a chemistry course; 3 include the role of microorganisms and contaminants in the environment (molds, bacteria) in a microbiology course; 4 include the effects of chemicals on organ systems and sentinel environmental illnesses in a pathophysiology course; 5 and include the effects of poverty and environmental disasters on mental health in a psychology course.
Do nursing schools require environmental health?
Official documents of professional nursing organizations endorse the presence of environmental health content in basic and graduate programs. However, accreditation mandates for schools of public health require education in environmental health sciences for graduates of public health programs.
What is the history of the American Nurses Association?
The History of the American Nurses Association. The history of the American Nurses Association (ANA) is best described as the story of individual nurses everywhere. From front-line volunteering in the nineteenth century to the budget cuts of today, nurses face obstacles which unite them. By coming together, we have been able to mobilize nursing’s ...
How many nurses attended the American Nurses Association convention in 1911?
At the corresponding convention just two years later, more than 10,000 nurses were in attendance. When the organization became the American Nurses Association in 1911, it was already fighting for the profession to gain the respect it deserved.
How many nurses attended the ANA convention?
At the corresponding convention just two years later, more than 10,000 nurses were in attendance.
Who wrote to Florence Nightingale?
When American nursing pioneer Alice Fisher wrote to Florence Nightingale in 1877 (see "Background to the ANA Nightingale letter" below), she did so for support, guidance and with a zeal to improve the conditions she witnessed.
What is the role of ANA in public health?
But far from solely protecting the concerns of its nurses, ANA has always used its position to take a lead role in the protection of public health. Just as a nurse identifies medical conditions through careful observation, so has ANA used the expertise of our membership to confront the health problems of the day head-on.
Who was the first black nurse?
The first credentialed black nurse was Mary Mahoney, who graduated in 1879 from Dr. Zakrewska’s nursing school in Boston.
What is the evolution of nursing?
The Evolution of Nursing. As caretakers of children, family and community, it was natural that women were the nurses, the caregivers, as human society evolved. Nursing may be the oldest known profession, as some nurses were paid for their services from the beginning. This was especially true of wet nurses, who nursed a baby when ...
What was the impact of the Civil War on nursing?
The Civil War gave enormous impetus to the building of hospitals and to the development of nursing as a credentialed profession. Initial wartime volunteers, however, often were seen as no different from “camp followers,” the women (sometimes mistresses and sometimes wives) who followed their soldier men.
What is a wet nurse?
A woman whose infant did not survive birth, or who was ready to wean her child, or who was capable of nursing more than one baby, would accept employment as a wet nurse, usually going to live in the home of her employer. The home, in fact, was the center of health care, and for the first two centuries after European exploration of North America, ...
How many slaves did Pember care for?
On an average day, Pember supervised the treatment of 15,000 patients, most of them cared for by nearly 300 slave women. The war thus led to greater respect for nurses, something that Congress acknowledged in 1892, when it belatedly passed a bill providing pensions to Civil War nurses. More important, the war served as the beginning ...
What was the era of sharp class definitions?
It was an era of sharp class definitions, and especially in the South, “respectable” women could not be seen in a military hospital. Some women had the courage and common sense to defy decorum, though, especially in the North, where the US Sanitary Commission became the forerunner to the Red Cross. The best known of these women, ...
Who were the most prominent nurses in the Confederacy?
In the Confederacy, the most prominent nurses were Captain Sally Tompkins and Phoebe Pember. Tompkins was commissioned as an officer in the Confederate army so that she could have the power to commandeer supplies.
Who was the first woman to become a nurse?
Florence NightingaleMost people think of the nursing profession as beginning with the work of Florence Nightingale, an upper class British woman who captured the public imagination when she led a group of female nurses to the Crimea in October of 1854 to deliver nursing service to British soldiers.
How many nursing schools were there in 1900?
By 1900, somewhere between 400 to 800 schools of nursing were in operation in the country. These programs followed a fairly typical pattern.
What is home care nursing?
For example, most Americans are familiar with home care nurses who provide a plethora of nursing and health care services to patients in their homes. School nurses have a long history of providing health services to school children from kindergarten through high school.
What is a nurse in healthcare?
While many may think of a nurse as someone who takes care of hospitalized patients, nurses also fill a wide variety of positions in health care in many varied settings, working both collaboratively and independently with other health care professionals. For example, most Americans are familiar with home care nurses who provide a plethora ...
What is the role of a nurse practitioner?
Nurses play a major role in delivering care to those residing in long-term-care facilities such as nursing homes. Workers with job-related health concerns often seek out nurses employed by business and industry. Many people visit a nurse practitioner as their primary caregiver.
How many nurses were employed in the Civil War?
Between 1839 and 1850 the Nurse Society employed about fifty nurses, establishing an early practice of engaging nurses for care of patients in the home. The outbreak of the Civil War created an immediate need for capable nurses to care for the enormous number of sick and wounded.
Why are nurses important?
Nurses are critical links in maintaining a cutting-edge health care system.Nursing continues to be an indispensable service to the American public. 21st century nurses preparing to care for a patient in a modern acute care hospital. While many may think of a nurse as someone who takes care of hospitalized patients, ...
When was the first nursing school established?
1885 – The first nurse training institute is established in Japan, thanks to the pioneering work of Linda Richards. 1886 – The first regular training school in India is established in Bombay, with funds provided by the governor general. 1886 – The Nightingale, the first American nursing journal, is published.
When did the first PhD in nursing start?
1954 – One of the first PhD programs in nursing is offered at the University of Pittsburgh. 1955 – Elizabeth Lipford Kent becomes the first African American to earn a PhD in nursing. 1955 – The United States Army Nurse Corps ceases to be all-female when Edward L.T. Lyon receives his commission.
What year did the nursing profession start in Japan?
1899 – Japan establishes a licensing system for modern nursing professionals with the introduction of the Midwives Ordinance. 1899 – Anna E. Turner goes to Cuba on a cattle boat with nine other nurses to serve two years at a yellow fever hospital in Havana. 1899 – The International Council of Nurses is formed.
When was the first nursing day in Japan?
1990 – Florence Nightingale 's birthday (May 12) is declared the official Nursing Day in Japan. 1992 – Eddie Bernice Johnson is the first nurse elected to the U.S. Congress. 1993 – After reforms in 1993, nursing education in Sweden is changing from vocational training to academic education.
When did the Canadian Nurses Association start?
1908 – Representatives of 16 organized nursing bodies meet in Ottawa to form the Canadian National Association of Trained Nurses, which will become the Canadian Nurses Association in 1911. 1908 – Akenehi Hei registered as the first Maori nurse. 1909 – The New Zealand Trained Nurses Association was established.
When did Linda Richards become a nurse?
1873 – Linda Richards graduates from the New England Hospital for Women and Children Training School for Nurses and officially becomes America's First Trained Nurse. 1873 – The first nursing school in the United States, based on Florence Nightingale's principles of nursing, opens at Bellevue Hospital, New York City.
Where did Florence Nightingale become a nurse?
1850 – Florence Nightingale, a pioneer of modern nursing, begins her training as a nurse at the Institute of St. Vincent de Paul at Alexandria, Egypt. 1851 – Florence Nightingale completed her nursing training at Kaiserwerth, Germany, a Protestant religious community with a hospital facility.

Beginnings of The Nursing Profession
Nursing in The Middle Ages
- When taking a glimpse at nursing in the Middle Ages, there was a myriad of advancements and innovations that were implemented within the nursing industry during these years, helping to form some of the roots of modern nursing. During this period of time, the industry was still largely based on religion, with the vast majority of available nurses consisting of nuns and even monks. …
Florence Nightingale and The Introduction to Modern Nursing
- When looking at the rise of modern nursing within Europe, it’s important to note that Florence Nightingale helped to change the nature of the profession forever. Around the early to late 1900’s, nursing was becoming more important than ever, as nurses were needed on the front lines of the many wars being waged, from the Crimean War to the Civil War. Nurses were sent to attend to th…
Modern Nursing Within Europe
- It was because of the influence of Florence Nightingale that nursing as a profession became what it is today, though both Europe and the U.S. offered different advancements throughout the period leading up until now. As for Europe, the nursing profession flourished when, in 1860, Nightingale opened the very first nursing school in London, which was...
Modern Nursing in The U.S.
- Nursing within the United States took a decidedly different path than in similar countries. Due to the absence of a stronghold of Catholicism within America, the nursing field was not comprised of nuns. Nursing officially began in the early 1700’s when the first almshouse was opened in Philadelphia. However, many of the hospitals that were created in the ever-expanding United Sta…
Post WWI Nursing in Europe and U.S.
- Many of the modern advancements in nursing took place after WWI and into WWII, when technology was starting to take a bigger role in the world. At the dawn of WWI, Britain’s nursing presence was striking low, with just over 10,000 nurses enrolled in the 2 premier military nursing services in the area, which included the Princess Mary’s Royal Air Force Nursing Service and Que…
Common Nursing Jobs in The Current Industry
- When looking at how the nursing profession has progressed since its inception when nurses were largely Catholic nuns to the bustling industry it is today, it’s important to understand that the reason for this occurring is due primarily to the added specialties that are current and prospective nurses could choose to focus in. As nursing is generally all about the care of a person, a nurse’s …
Education Required of A Nurse Today
- While in the late 1800’s and 1900’s, those looking to become nurses would simply go to school and achieve certification in nursing, it’s now possible to attend nursing school and choose any number of degrees to graduate with. Here’s a small look at what those are. For instance, in the U.S., you can choose to receive a diploma in nursing, which merely requires 3 years of study and …