Professionalism of nursing: attitude, communication, integrity, responsibility, how we dress
Chapter 1
● Development of Nursing from Early Civilizations to the 16th Century
○ Male and female nursing orders were founded during the Crusades (11th to 13th
centuries)
■ Medieval - knights gave care to sick and injured fellow fighters and built
hospitals and cared for ppl w/ leprosy, syphilis & other disfiguring
conditions
■ 1045-1290
○ At the beginning of the 16th century, many Western societies shifted from a
religious orientation to an emphasis on warfare, exploration, and expansion of
knowledge
■ To meet need for nurses - convicted women and prostitutes were
recruited into nursing - poorly educated
○ Florence Nightingale - began training at 31 (1836) in Germany, after war she
returned to England and established first training school for nurses
■ <Putting the pt in the best possible conditions for nature to preserve health
and to prevent, restore or cure disease or injury=
■ Key components: 1) Health 2) Illness 3) Caring
■ Focus on the effect of the environment in healing
● Ventilation and warming, noise reduction, diet, light, variety
(cognitive stimulation), cleanliness (washing hands), chattering
hopes and advices
■ Her infection control practices decreased mortality rates from 42%-2% in
6 months
○ Mary Seacole (1805-1881)
■ Practice nursing in Jamaica
■ Requested to join Nightingale in Crimean war but denied due to race
■ Personally financed and opened a lodging home in Crimea where she
cared for the sick and wounded
○ Dorthea Dix
■ Recruited and supervised all nurses working in Army hospitals during civil
war (1861-1865)
○ Clara Barton
■ Founder of Red Cross
○ Linda Richards
■ America’s first formally educated nurse
■ Introduced nurse’s notes and physician orders
■ Initiated nurses wearing uniforms
○ Mary Mahoney
■ First African American professional nurse
● World War 1 Nurses
○ Lillian Wald
, ■ First to offer trained nursing services to poor in NY slums
■ Founder of public health nursing
○ Lavinia Dock
■ Protested for women’s rights that resulted in 19th amendment for right to
vote
■ Fought for legislation to allow nurses, rather than physicians, to control
their profession
○ Margaret Sanger
■ Also focused among the <working poor= in NY
■ Imprisoned for opening the first birth control clinic in America
■ Considered the founder of of Planned Parenthood
○ Edith Cavell
■ Sentenced to death from German firing squad by helping enemy by acting
as a nurse for them
● World War 2
○ High school students were sent to war to help. Became first <practical nurses=
○ During the 19th to 20th century, there became a huge increase in demand for
nurses, hospitals started to create their own schools because it was cheaper,
<student nurses= and nurses <blended= together, male lead environment, lead to
less of a respect for nurses
○ Nursing as a profession, ADN programs & State board testing started after World
War 2
● Vietnam War
○ 11,000 female American nurses volunteered
Men in Nursing
● Luther Christman
○ Nurse and co-founder of AAMN
○ Not allowed to do OB rotation
○ Denied entrance into a Masters Nursing Program
● Definitions of Nursing
○ Multiple different definitions for nursing
○ Always caring for any patient at any stage in life, preventing illness, providing a
safe environment, interacting with families and loved ones
● Nursing’s Aims and Competencies
○ A. Promoting Health
■ Not merely the absence of a disease or infirmity
■ TEACHING! (teaching about wearing a helmet or teaching new parents
about car seats…)
○ B. Preventing Illness
■ Main focus is preventing disease!
■ Immunization clinics!!
○ C. Restoring Health