Posted: March 2nd, 2023

How has nursing practice evolved over time?

Nursing, like many other professions, has evolved significantly over the years. Nursing initially began in its very basic form in a home setting. It had nothing to do with formal training, there were no hospitals, and the sick were taken care of at home by close family members and friends. Nursing as a practice is approximated to have begun between the years 1840 and 1845 in Great Britain. It all started when Florence nightingale gathered a group of women to help injured soldiers in the fields through supervised care. Around the same period, an American doctor named Joseph Warrington published a book for society nurses and midwives that provided the first insight into nursing as a regulated profession.

More women began receiving training. But even then, the training was more observation-based. Nightingale continued to push for nursing to become science-based. After D.R Hooker from the Springfield hospital gave the first educational speech in 1894, Nightingale saw the need for consistent and formal nursing education and later opened the first nursing school in London, which would give science-based nursing training. As the years went by, hospitals continued to grow, and the education system became more comprehensive. Three other schools were later established. The success of these three institutions labeled “nightingale schools,” opened a path for the establishment of other numerous nursing schools.

Apart from Nightingale, there are a dozen other figures who also made significant contributions in the field of nursing. For instance, in the early 1900s, Clarissa Harlowe Barton, a teacher by profession, abandoned her teaching career to help supply medical supplies for the injured soldier in the American civil war. She would later establish the American Red Cross soon after the war.  Mary Breckinridge, a midwife-nurse, made sure she spread her skills wherever she could. And in 1925, she founded the New Model of Rural Health Care & Frontier Nursing Service, which focused on delivering care for the women and children in rural areas. Linda Richards and Agnes Elizabeth jones founded many nursing schools throughout the United States.

These and other women like Dorothea Dix, Margaret Sanger, Mary Mahoney, worked tirelessly to bring the nursing practice to the place it is today. Whether they pushed for improved training practices, legislation, or equality, they all made significant impacts.  Today, nursing is such an esteemed and lucrative profession dominated by both males and females. Educational institutions have taken over formalized training for all nurses. To become a nurse, one must earn specialized training and certification from a recognized institution. The focus on formalized training programs has played a significant role in improving healthcare worldwide and cement nursing as a respected and honored profession.

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