History of Nursing

Nurses are trained individuals who care for the sick. Caring for the sick started thousands of years ago- basically at the beginning of human existence as soon as sickness occurred. The aspect of educational training for nurses is of a more recent date. Nurses of the late 18th and early 19th centuries did most of their work in the home, which allowed them to more completely care for the individual- a more holistic approach- in a comfortable environment. Early hospitals were looked upon more as poorhouses, or asylums. Danette Barnes, my aunt and a nurse, commented that the biggest change in nursing during her her time in this career is the increase of focus on holistic nursing, especially patient satisfaction. They want to help them feel comfortable, at home, and support the family as much as possible. They are also focusing on more aspects than just the apparent problem at hand- which working as a nurse in a home allowed.

Florence Nightingale was one of the early leaders of education in nursing. Her story of wanting to become a nurse, implementing sanitation rules- which cut death rates during a war in Turkey from 42% to 2%, and starting schools and a college for nursing, was a huge building block in the history of nursing. Many others followed and set up nursing schools. The nurses were sometimes called “sisters”, and had a life similar to that of a nun. They were not paid and often had to do the dirty work and were highly taken advantage of. Kami, a family friend, expressed her strong feelings toward how negative the change of nursing has been over the last couple of decades. What used to be a fun, high satisfaction job, has now become an industry to work nurses in whatever way it takes for companies to earn more money. Because of the need for money, the nurses are taken advantage of and have to work 12, 14, and 16 hour shifts- often working nights, holidays, and weekends. “Forget being a mom”, Kami says, “you have to dedicate your entire life to the career.”

Sounds a bit like a nun to me.

It seems as though many of the problems that were “solved” in the past, were actually just pushed aside, or temporarily satisfied, but are problems we are still facing today. Rather than pushing me away from nursing, learning about it’s history helped me to recognize just how important this career is, and how people can stand up so that we don’t keep living in the past- but bring about change to have a brighter future.