In fifth century BC, Hippocrates was one of the first people in the world to study healthcare, earning him the title of "the father of modern medicine". Jesus Christ also taught that sick people should be cared for; in around 370 AD, one of the first Christian hospitals in the world was built in Cappadocia. Western European concepts of nursing were first practiced by male Catholic monks who provided for the sick and ill during the Dark Ages of Europe.
During 17th century Europe, nursing care was provided by men and women serving punishment. It was often associated with prostitutes and other female criminals serving time [citation needed]. They had a reputation for being drunk and obnoxious, a view amplified by the doctors of the time to make themselves seem more important and able [citation needed]. It was not until Florence Nightingale, a well-educated woman from a wealthy class family, became a nurse and improved it drastically that people began to accept nursing as a respectable profession. Other aspects also helped in the acceptance of nursing. In 1853 Theodore Fliedner set up a hospital where the nurses he employed had to be of good nature. Many people were impressed with this facility, and because of it, the British Institute of Nursing Sisters was set up.
A U.S. Navy recruiting poster from World War II, showing a Naval nurse with a hospital ship.
During 17th century Europe, nursing care was provided by men and women serving punishment. It was often associated with prostitutes and other female criminals serving time [citation needed]. They had a reputation for being drunk and obnoxious, a view amplified by the doctors of the time to make themselves seem more important and able [citation needed]. It was not until Florence Nightingale, a well-educated woman from a wealthy class family, became a nurse and improved it drastically that people began to accept nursing as a respectable profession. Other aspects also helped in the acceptance of nursing. In 1853 Theodore Fliedner set up a hospital where the nurses he employed had to be of good nature. Many people were impressed with this facility, and because of it, the British Institute of Nursing Sisters was set up.
A U.S. Navy recruiting poster from World War II, showing a Naval nurse with a hospital ship.
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| Florence Nightingale |
Prior to the foundation of modern nursing, nuns and the military often provided nursing-like services. The religious and military roots of modern nursing remain in evidence today in many countries, for example in the United Kingdom, senior female nurses are known as sisters. It was during time of war that a significant development in nursing history arose when English nurse Florence Nightingale, working to improve conditions of soldiers in the Crimean War, laid the foundation stone of professional nursing with the principles summarised in the book Notes on Nursing. Other important nurses in the development of the profession include: Mary Seacole, who also worked as a nurse in the Crimea; Agnes Elizabeth Jones and Linda Richards, who established quality nursing schools in the USA and Japan, and Linda Richards who was officially America's first professionally trained nurse, graduating in 1873 from the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston.
New Zealand was the first country to regulate nurses nationally, with adoption of the Nurses Registration Act on the 12 September 1901. It was here in New Zealand that Ellen Dougherty became the first registered nurse. North Carolina was the first state in the United States to pass a nursing licensure law in 1903.
Nurses in the United States Army actually started during the Revolutionary War when a general suggested to George Washington that the he needed female nurses "to attend the sick and obey the matron's orders. In July 1775, a plan was submitted to the Second Continental Congress that provided one nurse for every ten patients and provided that a matron be allotted to every hundred sick or wounded".
Nurses have experienced difficulty with the hierarchy in medicine that has resulted in an impression that nurses' primary purpose is to follow the direction of physicians. This tendency is certainly not observed in Nightingale's Notes on Nursing, where the physicians are mentioned relatively infrequently, and often in critical tones - particularly relating to bedside manner.
The modern era has seen the development of nursing degrees and nursing has numerous journals to broaden the knowledge base of the profession. Nurses are often in key management roles within health services and hold research posts at universities.