American Nursing History Essay

Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
• Textbook: Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4
• Lesson
• Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Optional Resources to Explore
Feel free to review the library guide for scholarly sources and videos at the following link:
• Link (website): History Library Guide (Links to an external site.)American Nursing History Essay

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Introduction
The purposes of each case study assignment include the following:
• To hone your abilities to research using scholarly sources
• To advance critical thinking and writing skills
• To compile a response to the prompts provided
• To explore a historical topic and make connections to change over time
Instructions
Pick one (1) of the following topics. Then, address the corresponding questions/prompts for your selected topic:
Option 1: Exploration and Effects on Native Americans
• Explain what motivated the European world powers to explore the Americas.
• Describe the economic effects of exploration based on the Colombian exchange.
• Analyze the effects of exploration on Native Americans.
• Based on research, analyze if Europeans might be held accountable for transmitting Old World diseases to people in the Western Hemisphere.
Option 2: Slavery vs. Indentured Servitude
• Explain how and why slavery developed in the American colonies.
• Describe in what ways the practice of slavery was different between each colonial region in British North America.
• Analyze the differences between slaves and indentured servants.
Option 3: Women in Colonial America
• Pick two colonies (New England, Middle, or Southern colonies) and explain how women’s roles differ in the two colonies of your choice.
• Describe what legal rights women held during the colonial period.American Nursing History Essay
• Analyze how Native women’s lives were different from colonial women’s lives.
Make sure to use your course text and incorporate an additional scholarly source from the Chamberlain Library in your response.
Writing Requirements (APA format)
• Length: 1-2 pages (not including title page or references page)
• Use standard essay writing process by including an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
• 1-inch margins
• Double spaced
• 12-point Times New Roman font
• Title page
• References page (minimum of 1 scholarly source)
• No abstract is required
• In-text citations that correspond with your end references

Many people believe that Nursing started with Florence Nightingale, however nursing itself dates back to the beginnings of motherhood when nurses were traditionally female. In fact, nursing and medicine have been closely intertwined throughout the ages. The history of nursing has its origins in the care of infants and children, so all mothers were in fact nurses. Gradually an evolution started developing into dedicated caregivers who practiced the art. In fact, nursing has been called the oldest of arts and the youngest of professions.
When it became apparent that love and nurturing alone were not enough to cure disease, the need for a more educated framework
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.American Nursing History Essay

World History of Nursing
Since the beginnings of time, nursing has been shaped by different cultures and societies and by the changes within those societies. The word nursing derives its meaning from the Latin word nutricius which means nourishing. Therefore, in the ancient world nursing was viewed as a role of caring for the family and not a profession.
In the world history of nursing, roots can be traced to religion, mythology, and Eastern and Western societies. The ancient Egyptians utilized perhaps the first formal nurses, hiring them to assist in childbirth. It is from these beginnings that today’s midwives evolved.American Nursing History Essay

The topic of this paper is to identify historical events in nursing. This topic grasps my attention because I am on the track to become a nurse, and feel I need to know about the history of nursing. The purpose of this paper is to inform the reader about historical highlights in nursing.
In The Beginning American Nurses Association defines nursing as “the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and population”( Potter,P.,& Perry, A. 2005,1-5). Thus making nursing dynamic and ever changing. American Nursing History Essay
(Parker, Sandra,V., 1993) The matrons were significant because they “introduced home remedies, airing of the wards, and simple cleanliness.”( Parker, Sandra,V., 1993) Nurses must thank the Civil War because the war made the profession of nursing reachable to women.( 1997,Women’s Roles during the Civil War, 1861-1865) In 1873 there were four hospitals with a school of nursing with in them. These hospitals were the New England Hospital for Women and Children; Massachusetts General Hospital; New Haven Hospital; and Bellevue Hospital.( 1996.Nursing. Dictionary of American History) The number of hospitals and hospital with nursing schools inside of them increased, because the hospitals soon found that the mortality and morbidity decreased with improved nursing care.( Nursing. Dictionary of American History) The shaping and molding of the nursing profession made the hospitals that we know today to be possible. In the 1860’s and 1870’s more Americans went to the hospitals for treatment because of the emphasis on hospital cleanliness, and the professional nurse.American Nursing History Essay

Nursing History Paper: The Evolution of the Nursing Profession Nursing is more than merely a job, an occupation, or a career; it is a vocation, a calling, a frame of mind and heart. As a nurse, one must value the general good of others over his own. He must devote of himself nobly to ensure the well-being of his patient. However, today’s well-recognized nurses are notably different from nurses of the recent past. Service is the core of the nursing profession, and the essential evolution of the vocation reflects the ever-changing needs of the diverse patient population that it serves. As a profession, nursing has evolved progressively, particularly in its modernization throughout the past two centuries with the influence of Florence Nightingale. The field of nursing continues to grow and diversify even today, as nurses receive greater medical credibility and repute, as its minority representations…show more content…
Before the modernization and reform of their profession in the mid-1800s, nurses were believed to perform “women’s work”, which implied menial duties, unskilled service, and an overall lack of skill (Garey, “Sentimental women need not apply”). This mentality was substantiated by the “untrained attendants, [including] past patients, vagrants, and prostitutes,” that performed a variety of nursing tasks (Garey).American Nursing History Essay

Professional nurses work both independently and in collaboration with other health care professionals such as physicians. Professional nurses supervise the work of nurses who have limited licenses, such as licensed practical nurses (LPNs) in the United States and enrolled nurses (ENs) in Australia. Professional nurses also oversee the work of nursing assistants in various settings.American Nursing History Essay

Nursing is the largest, the most diverse, and one of the most respected of all the health care professions. There are more than 2.9 million registered nurses in the United States alone, and many more millions worldwide. While true demographic representation remains an elusive goal, nursing does have a higher proportional representation of racial and ethnic minorities than other health care professions. In some countries, however, men still remain significantly underrepresented.American Nursing History Essay

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The demand for nursing remains high, and projections suggest that such demand will substantively increase. Advances in health care technology, rising expectations of people seeking care, and reorganization of health care systems require a greater number of highly educated professionals. Demographic changes, such as large aging populations in many countries of the world, also fuel this demand.American Nursing History Essay

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History Of Nursing
Although the origins of nursing predate the mid-19th century, the history of professional nursing traditionally begins with Florence Nightingale. Nightingale, the well-educated daughter of wealthy British parents, defied social conventions and decided to become a nurse. The nursing of strangers, either in hospitals or in their homes, was not then seen as a respectable career for well-bred ladies, who, if they wished to nurse, were expected to do so only for sick family and intimate friends. In a radical departure from these views, Nightingale believed that well-educated women, using scientific principles and informed education about healthy lifestyles, could dramatically improve the care of sick patients. Moreover, she believed that nursing provided an ideal independent calling full of intellectual and social freedom for women, who at that time had few other career options.American Nursing History Essay

In 1854 Nightingale had the opportunity to test her beliefs during Britain’s Crimean War. Newspaper stories reporting that sick and wounded Russian soldiers nursed by religious orders fared much better than British soldiers inflamed public opinion. In response, the British government asked Nightingale to take a small group of nurses to the military hospital at Scutari (modern-day Üsküdar, Turk.). Within days of their arrival, Nightingale and her nurses had reorganized the barracks hospital in accordance with 19th-century science: walls were scrubbed for sanitation, windows opened for ventilation, nourishing food prepared and served, and medications and treatments efficiently administered. Within weeks death rates plummeted, and soldiers were no longer sickened by infectious diseases arising from poor sanitary conditions. Within months a grateful public knew of the work of the “Lady with the Lamp,” who made nightly rounds comforting the sick and wounded. By the end of the 19th century, the entire Western world shared Nightingale’s belief in the worth of educated nurses.American Nursing History Essay

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Florence Nightingale at the Barrack Hospital
Florence Nightingale at the Barrack Hospital
Florence Nightingale at the Barrack Hospital in Scutari (Üsküdar), writing letters for wounded soldiers of the Crimean War, 1855.
© Photos.com/Thinkstock
Nightingale’s achievements overshadowed other ways to nurse the sick. For centuries, most nursing of the sick had taken place at home and had been the responsibility of families, friends, and respected community members with reputations as effective healers. During epidemics, such as cholera, typhus, and smallpox, men took on active nursing roles. For example, Stephen Girard, a wealthy French-born banker, won the hearts of citizens of his adopted city of Philadelphia for his courageous and compassionate nursing of the victims of the 1793 yellow fever epidemic.American Nursing History Essay

Stephen Girard, lithograph by A. Newsam after a portrait by B. Otis
Stephen Girard, lithograph by A. Newsam after a portrait by B. Otis
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
As urbanization and industrialization spread, those without families to care for them found themselves in hospitals where the quality of nursing care varied enormously. Some patients received excellent care. Women from religious nursing orders were particularly known for the quality of the nursing care they provided in the hospitals they established. Other hospitals depended on recovering patients or hired men and women for the nursing care of patients. Sometimes this care was excellent; other times it was deplorable, and the unreliability of hospital-based nursing care became a particular problem by the late 19th century, when changes in medical practices and treatments required competent nurses. The convergence of hospitals’ needs, physicians’ wishes, and women’s desire for meaningful work led to a new health care professional: the trained nurse.American Nursing History Essay

Hospitals established their own training schools for nurses. In exchange for lectures and clinical instructions, students provided the hospital with two or three years of skilled free nursing care. This hospital-based educational model had significant long-term implications. It bound the education of nurses to hospitals rather than colleges, a tie that was not definitively broken until the latter half of the 20th century. The hospital-based training model also reinforced segregation in society and in the health care system. For instance, African American student nurses were barred from almost all American hospitals and training schools. They could seek training only in schools established by African American hospitals. Most of all, the hospital-based training model strengthened the cultural stereotyping of nursing as women’s work. Only a few hospitals provided training to maintain men’s traditional roles within nursing.American Nursing History Essay

Still, nurses transformed hospitals. In addition to the skilled, compassionate care they gave to patients, they established an orderly, routine, and systemized environment within which patients healed. They administered increasingly complicated treatments and medication regimes. They maintained the aseptic and infection-control protocols that allowed more complex and invasive surgeries to proceed. In addition, they experimented with different models of nursing interventions that humanized increasingly technical and impersonal medical procedures.American Nursing History Essay

Outside hospitals, trained nurses quickly became critical in the fight against infectious diseases. In the early 20th century, the newly discovered “germ theory” of disease (the knowledge that many illnesses were caused by bacteria) caused considerable alarm in countries around the world. Teaching methods of preventing the spread of diseases, such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, and influenza, became the domain of the visiting nurses in the United States and the district nurses in the United Kingdom and Europe. These nurses cared for infected patients in the patients’ homes and taught families and communities the measures necessary to prevent spreading the infection. They were particularly committed to working with poor and immigrant communities, which often had little access to other health care services. The work of these nurses contributed to a dramatic decline in the mortality and morbidity rates from infectious diseases for children and adults. American Nursing History Essay