How Nursing Has Changed Over Time

Nursing is one of the very few professions in the world that has remained right at the very heart of society since it first began. The industrial and digital age have certainly created, transformed, and even removed a number of professions, but the history of nursing has only seen nurses become an increasingly vital part of the healthcare profession. The history of nursing is a fascinating topic to study and understanding more about it can help aspiring nurses secure their place at nursing school, whilst providing current nurses with even more information about their role. 

Nursing’s Origins:

Nurses have always been at the heart of society, with people tending to and caring for the sick and injured. However, nursing was not actually recognized as a profession until the Roman Empire was at its height around 300AD. It was during this period when imperial forces set up hospitals in every town they ruled and employed nurses to support the physicians in each institution. This idea developed throughout the Byzantine era, with nurses becoming known as ‘hypourgoi’. The hospitals then carried out a wide range of roles including housing refugees, lepers, and injured citizens. The role of the nurse was extremely complex due to the huge demand for services and a lack of stratified hierarchy, placing a lot of responsibility on the nurses. 

Nursing and the Church:

Around 500-600CE, health and medical care in Europe were under the dominion of the Catholic church. Hospitals existed to care for the sick, regardless of their religion or nation of origin. This worked successfully for a few hundred years until around the year 800, when the medical institutions began to decay. In Spain, Emperor Charlemagne headed the restoration of hospitals, equipping them with the latest medical equipment and ordering each European monastery and cathedral to have a hospital; a move which significantly increased nursing numbers across Europe.

This continued throughout the tenth and eleventh centuries, with nurses working to provide patients with any form of care that they required or asked for – often outside of medical service boundaries. This new model of nursing quickly spread across Europe and became the new standard by which nurses were expected to treat patients. During this time, nurses began making house calls. 

There are many similarities between nursing now and then, including:

• Nurses provided emotional support and other care rather than being limited to medical care only
• Nurses traveled to patients in their homes in a similar way to the community nurses of today

Nursing as a Public Service:

Some centuries later, the mid-1000s saw an increase in ‘charitable houses’. These institutions were significantly different from the cathedral and monastery hospitals of the past, mainly due to the fact that they served wealthy patients. The richest of patients at these institutions would be provided with medicines and alms, which were typically used in preparation for burial and became highly sought-after. This new way of doing things was the beginning of a new era in nursing. 

Florence Nightingale:

One of the most well-known nurses in history is Florence Nightingale. During the 1800s she became one of the world’s most influential figures in nursing, beginning her career as a nurse during the Crimean War to treat soldiers injured in battle. During this time, nurses were becoming increasingly essential due to the growing need for treatment for injured soldiers on the front line. 

Nightingale quickly realized that many deaths on the battlefield were not caused by the injuries themselves, but rather due to infections caused by low hygiene standards. She requested aid from the British government to create better hygiene standards in army hospitals, which led to a rapid decrease in the number of deaths from infections and laid a foundation for hygiene standards in modern medical care. Some highlights of Florence Nightingale’s career included:

• Recognizing the need for better hygiene standards in medical care
• Campaigning for more sanitary hospital conditions
• Laying the foundation for many principles of modern nursing
• Opening the first-ever nursing school in London in 1860
• Training nurses in standardized care procedures

Nurses in WWI

Shortly after Florence Nightingale’s nursing school created a standard of care for nurses around the world, the British Nursing Association was founded in 1887 by a union of nurses wanting professional registration, which began a movement to make the nursing profession more officially recognized, regulated, and respected around the world.

During the First World War, the demand for nurses rose yet again – in the UK, the number of nurses was low and the huge need for medical care led to a resurgence in nursing in the USA and Europe during the mid-1900s. In the US, the government invested millions of dollars into the healthcare industry and nurse training. 

Modern Nursing and Expanding Roles:

Today, this history of nursing has led it to become a respected profession with many expanding roles. During the late 20th century, an increasing number of schools began offering nurse training programs that allowed individuals to qualify and work as registered or licensed nurses. From 1950 to 1970, the option to progress by studying for a master’s or doctorate degree in nursing was introduced. In 1951, male nurses were allowed to join the professional register, opening up the profession to further diversity. 

In the early 1970s, the Briggs Committee suggested that all registered nurses should hold a degree with research-based practice, which paved the way for modern nursing education. It was during this era when the American Nurses’ Association first published the American Journal of Nursing, which enabled nurses and other healthcare professionals to stay up to date with the latest news and research in their field. Today, thousands of nurses check a wide range of nursing blogs and journals to get the latest news. 

Nursing jobs expanded in the 20th century, with various areas of specialization introduced. And, nurses became increasingly independent – rather than simply supporting doctors, 2002 saw nurses able to diagnose, treat and even prescribe to patients on their own. 

Much has changed over the history of nursing, but it still remains one of the most challenging and rewarding professions worldwide.