history of development of

nursing profession
-
Objectives-

At the end of the class students will be able to –

 Define nursing profession

 Describe different eras of nursing

 Explain the origin of professional nursing

 Discuss history of nursing in India

 Enumerate different milestones in nursing

Why to study history?

Looking Back gives you a vision

of where you want to go.
 INTRODUCTION

Nursing is a modern
profession but one of the
oldest arts.
 INTRODUCTION

It began with the need to provide care and comfort to those suffering from illness
and injury.

Two factors deeply influenced practice of nursing-

1. Advancement in science

2. Changing of society’s need

 Nursing- Definition

The unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well in
the performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery or to a
peaceful death, that he would perform unaided if he had the necessary
strength, will or knowledge; and to do this in such a way as to help him gain
independence as rapidly as possible.

- by Virginia Henderson (1973)

 Nursing- Definition

• Nursing is the act of utilizing the environment of the patient to assist him in his
recovery.

-by Florence Nightingale

• Nursing is 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 populations.

-by ANA
History of Nursing: Early Christian Era (AD
60)
 Women began nursing as an expression of Christianity
(acts of mercy).

 Deacons and deaconesses designated by bishops to

provide care in homes of the sick.

 Deaconess Phoebe considered a visiting nurse.

 Fabiola provided the first free hospital in Rome in 390 AD

 Middle Ages (1100-1200 AD)

o Charitable institutions were started to care to the aged, sick and poor.

o Knight Hospitaliers of St. John’s of Jerusalem cared for the injured on the
battle field —their symbol: a bright, Red Cross.

o Knights organized nursing care, some of nurses were nuns and

deaconess.

o Nurse Midwifery flourished during Middle Ages.

 Rennaisance (1500AD – 1850AD)

 The Renaissance and Reformation periods.

 Major advancements were made in pharmacology, chemistry, and medical

knowledge including anatomy, physiology, and surgery.

 Nursing was no longer the respected profession it had once been. This
period was referred to as the "Dark Ages of Nursing.”
  
Fifteenth To Nineteenth Century

• The need for nurses and increasing nursing responsibilities

were due to the economic growth of eighteenth century, the
smallpox epidemic and the Revolutionary War.

• Sisters of Charity, founded in 1633 by St. Vincent de Paul.

• The first Supervisor of the Sisters of Charity was Louise Gras

• In 1809 the Sisters of Charity was introduced in America by

Mother Elizabeth Senton
Florence Nightingale
and the Origin of
Professional Nursing
Florence Nightingale and the Origin of Professional Nursing

• She was born into a wealthy British family. Florence nightingale was
educated in Greek and Latin, mathematics, Natural science, ancient and
modern literature and Statistics.

• Florence Nightingale, established the first nursing philosophy based on

health maintenance and restoration in 'Notes of Nursing' What it is and
what it is not.
Florence Nightingale and the Origin of Professional Nursing

• In 1853 Nightingale went to Paris to study with the Sisters of Charity and
was appointed as the superintendent of The English General Hospitals in
Turkey.

• In 1854, the Crimean War broke out, in which Russia waged war against
the combined armies of England, France and Turkey.

• Nightingale sought permission for her and a band of ladies drawn from the
upper to travel to the Crimean and to care for the sick and wounded.
During Crimean War
 Florence Nightingale and the Origin of Professional Nursing

 She believed that dirt, rather than microscopic pathogens,

were the cause of disease

 She brought about major reforms in hygiene, sanitation and

nursing practice and reduced the mortality rate at the
barracks hospital, turkey.

 She laid the foundation for modern evidence- based practice.

 The crimean war won nightingale title of ‘lady with the

lamp.’
 The Civil War

• The civil war stimulated the growth of nursing in United States.

• Clara Barton, founder of American Red Cross, tended soldiers on the

battle field, cleansing their wounds, meeting their basic needs and
comforting them in death.

• Dorothea Leynde Dix, Mary Ann Ball and Harriet Tubman also influenced
nursing during Civil War.

• The first African-American professional nurse was Mary Mahoney.

The Civil War
 The Civil War
• Isabel Hampton Robb, a graduate of St. Catherine's in The Ontario was
the first superintendent of Johns Hopkins de training school in Baltimore,
Maryland in 1894.

• Lillian Wald and Mary Brewster opened the Henry Street Settlement which
focused on the health needs of poor people who lived in the tenaments in
New York City.

• Wald described her activities with the Henry Settlement in the textbooks;
'The House on Henry Street' and ‘Windows on Henry Street'.
The Civil War
 Twentieth Century

• A movement towards a scientific, research-based defined body of nursing

knowledge and practice was seen.

• Mary Adelaide Nutting, a member of the first graduating class at Johns

Hopkins Hospital She became the first professor of nursing at Columbia

University Teachers College in 1907.

• In 1923 the Rockfeller foundation funded a survey of nursing education,

The Goldmark Report.

 Twentieth Century

o In 1901 the Army Nurse Corps was established.

o By the year 1908 Navy Corps established.

o By the year 1920s nursing specialization was developing.

o Graduate nurse midwifery programs were initiated and beginning in 1950s

specialty nursing organizations such as Association of Operating Room
Nurses (1949), American Association of Critical Care Nurses and
Oncology Nursing Society were formed.
  
HISTORY OF NURSING IN INDIA
o 1664-Military Nursing was started by East India Company in St. George
Military Hospital in Madras.

o 1854-Govt, sanctioned training school for midwives.

o 1861-Public health nursing school was started.

o 1867-St. Stephens hospital at Delhi was first one to begin training of

Indian girls as nurses.

o 1871-First School of nursing started in Govt. General Hospital, Madras

with 6 months diploma midwives program.
  
HISTORY OF NURSING IN INDIA

o 1890-1900-Many schools under mission or govt. were started in various

parts of India.

o 1897-Dr. BC Roy did great work in raising the standards of nursing and that
of male and female nurses.

o 1908-TNAI formed to uphold dignity and honor of nursing profession. 1918-

Training schools were started for health visitors and dais at Delhi and
Karachi.
  
HISTORY OF NURSING IN INDIA

o 1926-Madras state formed the first registration council to provide basic

standards in education and training.

o 1946-First 4-year basic Bachelor Degree program was established at

RAK College of Nursing in Delhi and CMC, Vellore.

o 1947-After independence, Community Development Programme and

expansion of hospital service created for nurses, ANM, health visitors,
midwives, nursing tutors and nursing administrators.

o 1949-INC was constituted.

  
HISTORY OF NURSING IN INDIA

o 1959-the first master's programme in nursing was started at RAK College

of Nursing, New Delhi.

o 1963-School of Nursing in Trivandrum instituted the first 2 years post-

certificate Bachelor Degree program.

o 1985-IGNOU, established.

o 1986-M.Phil. at RAK College of nursing, New Delhi, was started.

  
HISTORY OF NURSING IN INDIA

o 1991-The first doctoral programme in nursing was established in institute

of nursing sciences, MV Shetty Mangalore.

o 1992-Postbasic programme started under IGNOU.

o 2002 onwards-Nursing education flourished in an unprecedented manner

throughout India.

o 2005-06 INC started PhD programme (INC consortium) with the

collaboration of Rajiv Gandhi University.
 Milestones in Nursing
Transformation of Nursing into Profession
• Training and education

• Regulating agency and body (Licensure for Nurses)

• A Professional Organization (The origin of Nursing Associations)

• Continuing Education

• Publication

• Community Involvement and Services

• Development of new nursing knowledge

 Advances in Nursing Practice

• 1970s nurse practitioner preparation increasingly occurred in graduate

programs in nursing.

• The Journal Nursing Research, which was first published during 1950s,
provided a great impetus to nursing scholarship.

• The National Institute of Health, Division of Nursing Research, was

initiated in 1956.
Summary
 Conclusion
The history of nursing reveals a pattern of recurrent
issues that the profession has been required to confront
over time.

Nurses of the future must continue to monitor changes in

technology, advances in scientific knowledge, and
changes in society and in the health care delivery system.

Perhaps through study of the challenges of the past

we will have the insights to best meet our future.
 References

1. History of Nursing Resources, https://www.scribd.com

2. The History and Evolution of Nursing https://clipboardhealth.com

3. Navdeep Kaur Brar, HC Rawat, Textbook of Advanced nursing practice,

2014, published by Jaypee Brothers.