Historical Evolution of Nursing

Historical Evolution of Nursing
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Historical Evolution of Nursing
The begging of the nursing profession is hugely attributed to the profound work done by an upper-class British woman called Florence Nightingale, who seized the public perception when she presided over the nursing care delivered to British soldiers by women in October 1854. Nightingale later managed to establish a nursing training program in several hospitals in British when she returned to England (Ranard, 2015). Nightingale organized these programs around Nightingale Principles, which advocated for specific sets of ideas that determined how nurses were trained. Although Nightingale led a ground-breaking work by confirming that educating a corps of women and teaching them about healthcare and promoting it can significantly improve patient care, however, she was not the first person to operationalize these principles.
Some physicians recognized the significance of nursing care and its impact on patients' well-being and established educational courses for people who showed interest in nursing. Valentine Seaman, a New York-based physician, arranged for one of the first courses to teach nurses how to care for patients in the maternity unit in 1798. Besides, the Nurse Society of Philadelphia is also on record for organizing an early 19th-century program to enlighten women and train them to care for mothers during the postpartum and childbearing periods (LaRocco, 2018). Dr. Joseph Warrington founded the Nurse Society of Philadelphia. Warrington strongly advocated for the provision of training and instruction to women who were interested in studying nursing.
Key Historical Events
Nursing history is complete with stories of nurturing, healing, heroism, hardships, ingenuity, discovery, leadership, research, education, compassion, and caring. Historical records illustrate nurses and the nursing industry's evolution from informal caregiving roles during ancient times to untrained nurses in the 19th century to today’s professionally traine...