16th Century Nursing

In the early Christian era nurses where deaconesses (women selected by the church with slight educational background). In the 16th Century nursing became a job consisting primarily of convicts and ill reputes, with no formal training (Egenes, no date). Today, nursing is a profession with a strong and specific/unique body of knowledge, ongoing research, and professional organizations that set standards (Taylor, 2015, p. 13). The three biggest influences on how nursing developed into a profession are: war, Florence Nightingale, and the ICN.

Warfare starting in the 19th century served as a catalyst for modern nursing. These wars increased both the worldwide need for nurses and the public’s recognition of the nurse’s work in saving lives (Egenes, no date). The increased need a higher quality and quantity of nurses forced society to increase nursing education, and broaden the scope of who could nurse beyond the

During and after the war, Nightingale published an extensive body of nursing writing intended on developing professional nursing by developing specialized skills and validating them with scientific and mathematical research (Attewell 2010). Nightingale meticulously maintained records became the beginning of nursing research (Taylor, 2015, p. 7). With Nightingale in charge, the Nightingale Fund set up the nurses' training school at St Thomas's Hospital in London for the education of professional nurses (Attewell 2010). The school differed from all previous forms of nursing education because nurses received classes in theory and gained specialized training in hospitals. Students learned the importance for higher academic standards in the profession. (Egenes, K.J. no date). Nightingale’s school model spread throughout the world, and set up the foundation for nursing academia (Attewell