History of Modern Nursing

by Tyler Frasher

For thousands of years, the act of caring for wounds, injuries, and illnesses have been practiced by humans. However, the roots of modern day nursing can only be traced back a few hundred years. At one point, the nursing practice was only conducted by the military, nuns and other religious women. In parts of the United Kingdom and Europe, evidence of this can still be seen. It wasn't until around the 17th century that nursing became a job and even then it was a job held only by the lower class and it was looked down upon by society. The 19th century showed the challenging of this idea during the Crimean War when Florence Nightingale wised to improve medical conditions for wounded soldiers.

Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820 in Florence, Italy. Nightingale was the youngest of two daughters and her family belonged to elite social classes. She was provided with a classical education and was really active in philanthropy. She believed that nursing was her divine purpose.
Nightingale made it her mission to increase the sanitation of living and medical conditions which then lowered the death rates of soldiers during the war. Florence Nightingale receives credit for advancing nursing as a profession.

We saw modern nursing advance even more in 1836. A man by the name of Theodore Fliedner opened a hospital in which the staff was only young ladies that were nursing and theology trained. He also opened training center for the hospital's nurses.

Linda Richards became the first trained nurse in the United States. Richards graduated from the nursing program at Boston's New England Hospital for Women and Children. Later in her life, she began creating nursing programs throughout Japan and America. Richards was also responsible for creating the first system to maintain individualized patient care charts.