The History Of American Nursing

A History of American Nursing, Second Edition provides a historical overview essential to developing a complete understanding of the nursing profession. For each key era of U.S. history, nursing is examined in the context of the sociopolitical climate of the day, the image of nurses, nursing education, advances in practice, war and its effect on nursing, licensure and regulation, and nursing research and its implications. From early nursing to Nightingale's influence, through two world wars to today, this text engages students in an exploration of nursing's past while connecting it to nursing practice in the present.A History of American Nursing, Second Edition informs and empowers today's student nurses as they help to create the future of nursing.* Completely expanded and updated art program, including images from the Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation and artist Lou Everett, a nurse educator* New feature: Historical Happenings - short vignettes throughout each chapter that highlight a relevant medical/nursing advance and/or historical event from a particular era* Updates to references, key people, discussion questions, and MeSH terms

First Place, History and Public Policy, 2010 American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Awards This new interpretation of the history of nursing in the United States captures the many ways women reframed the most traditional of all gender expectations—that of caring for the sick—to create new possibilities for themselves, to renegotiate the terms of some of their life experiences, and to reshape their own sense of worth and power. For much of modern U.S. history, nursing was informal, often uncompensated, and almost wholly the province of female family and community members. This began to change at the end of the nineteenth century when the prospect of formal training opened for women doors that had been previously closed. Nurses became respected professionals, and becoming a formally trained nurse granted women a range of new social choices and opportunities that eventually translated into economic mobility and stability. Patricia D'Antonio looks closely at this history—using a new analytic framework and a rich trove of archival sources—and finds complex, multiple meanings in the individual choices of women who elected a nursing career. New relationships and social and professional options empowered nurses in constructing consequential lives, supporting their families, and participating both in their communities and in the health care system. Narrating the experiences of nurses, D'Antonio captures the possibilities, power, and problems inherent in the different ways women defined their work and lived their lives. Scholars in the history of medicine, nursing, and public policy, those interested in the intersections of identity, work, gender, education, and race, and nurses will find this a provocative book.

An engaging study of the dilemmas faced by American nursing, which examines the ideology, practice, and efforts at reform of both trained and untrained nurses in the years between 1850 and 1945. Ordered to Care provides an overall history of nursing's development and places that growth within the context of topical questions raised by women's history and the social history of health care. Building upon extensive use of primary and quantitative data, the author creates a collective portrait of nursing, from the work of the individual nurse to the political efforts of its organizations. Dr Reverby contends that nursing's contemporary difficulties are caused by its historical obligation to care in a society that refuses to value caring. She examines the historical consequences of this critical dilemma and concludes with a discussion of why nursing will have to move beyond its obligation to care, and what the implications of this change would be for all of us.

"The authors demonstrate how U. S. nurses have worked throughout their history to restore patients to health, teach health promotion, and participate in disease preventing activities. Recounting those experiences in the nurses' own words, the authors bring that history to life, capturing nurses' thoughts and feelings during times of war, epidemics, and disasters as well as during their everyday work. The book fills a gap in the secondary literature on...the history of nursing that can be useful in these times of great social change. It is a “must read” for every nurse in the United States!" --Barbra Mann Wall, PhD, RN, FAAN; Director of the Eleanor Crowder Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry; University of Virginia; From the Foreword For over four hundred years, a diverse array of nurses, nurses' aides, midwives, and public-minded citizens across the United States have attended to the healthcare of America’s equally diverse populations. Beginning in 1607 when the first Englishmen landed in Virginia, and concluding in 2016 when Flint, Michigan, was declared to be in a state of emergency, this expansive nursing history text for undergraduate and graduate nursing programs examines the history of the nursing profession to better understand how nursing became what it is today. Grounded in the premise that health care can and should be promoted in partnership with communities to provide quality care for all, this history analyzes the resilience and innovation of nurses who provided care for the most underprivileged populations, such as slaves on Southern plantations, immigrants in tenements in Manhattan's Lower East Side, and isolated populations in rural Kentucky. It takes into account issues of race, class, and gender and the influence of these factors on nurses and patients. Featuring nearly 300 photos, oral histories, and case examples from varied settings in the United States and beyond, the narrative discusses major medical advances, prominent leaders and grassroots movements in nursing, and ethical dilemmas that nurses faced with each change in the profession. Chapters include discussion questions for class sessions as well as a list of suggested readings. Key Features: Examines the history of nursing during the last four centuries Links challenges for nurses in the past to those of present-day nurses Includes oral histories, case examples, boxed highlights, call-outs, discussion questions, archival sites, and references Covers drugs, technological innovations, and scientific discovery in each era Demonstrates progression toward “A Culture of Health” as described by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Now in its newly revised Fourth Edition, this well-illustrated history of nursing in America is a classic among nursing historians. American Nursing: A History, Fourth Edition is the only comprehensive text on the market devoted to the history of nursing in the United States. For this edition, a new chapter addresses the past ten years’ developments in the profession—including an exploration of the nursing shortage—and projects key nursing trends for the future. Also new illustrations are found throughout the book as approximately 50 percent of the previous edition’s illustrations have been replaced with new images.

Named an Outstanding Academic Title for 2001 by Choice! Why turn to the past when attempting to build nursing's future?...To make good decisions in planning nursing's future in the context of our complex health care system, nurses must know the history of the actions being considered, the identities and points of view of the major players, and all the stakes that are at risk. These are the lessons of history." -- from the Introduction This book presents nursing history in the context of problems and issues that persist to this day. Issues such as professional autonomy, working conditions, relationships with other health professionals, appropriate knowledge for education and licensure, gender, class, and race are traced through the stories told in this volume. Each chapter provides a piece of the puzzle that is nursing. The editors, all noted nurse historians and educators, have carefully made selections from the best that has been published in the nursing and health care literature.

This fascinating edition traces the development of nursing, from its humble origin of unorganized volunteers to the highly skilled profession it has become. Readers will learn about the involvement of nurses in wars throughout history, as well as the challenges that the profession is currently facing.