The historical understanding of a nurse’s uniform has changed, evolved, and been overturned since they were first created. Overtime the nurse’s uniform has been “de-feminized”, meaning that it is not longer directed as a female profession. The uniform has also evolved in practicality, and how the nurse profession has affected women. When one understands the uniform as simply not a uniform, but a symbol of women during the war, and the evolution the profession caused, one begins to understand it’s historical significance. The nurse’s uniform, when first created had a feminine design. There wore a long skirt, collar, and high heels. Kate Aid describes the uniform as “a touch romantic” when skirts were proposed to be shortened. The uniform …show more content…
The image the uniform created was feminine, similar to the characteristics of the profession itself. In addition to the design, the nursing profession, and feminized uniforms were symbolic. Many women began as volunteers in the field, especially during the war effort, as nurse primary goal was care giving. As this was described as a “natural” act, and a core characteristic of women, men believed that they should not be paid for “what comes naturally” to them. This is a representation of the values of the time-period. Women were given jobs that the were more suitable to their characteristics of emotional-thinking, and care-giving attitudes. During WWI, this was acceptable justification for the lack of pay, and for the connection to female profession. However, today this would be viewed as morally wrong, and sexist …show more content…
As Jared Newman describes, they began as a floor-length dress with an apron, deriving from a nun’s outfit as nun’s began providing nursing to sick kids before the profession was created. The uniform was designed for a modern, fashionable look that disregarded the spread of illnesses. This shows that the look of a women, was more important than the health of the women, and patients. This may be because men believed in the stereotypical women that cared about here image. Perhaps this could have been true for some women, but most definitely not all. The appearance, and respect that came from the uniforms, and the reason nurses took pride in their work. In comparison, while men looked well for photos, on the battle fields themselves the uniforms were messy due to the trenches and warfare, the image was not as important. However, when the death rates increase in World War 1, the nurses need to be work more efficient, and the bulky apron, and long sleeves prevented this. Image, finally became less important than efficiency, and so skirts were shortened for better
On March 15, 1965, large shipments of troops arrived in South Vietnam. These troops occupied the country until 1973. During this time, many men fought and died for the United States of America. The numerous nurses that operated on thousands of soldiers are often forgotten. The soldiers that the nurses operated on were usually blown apart and crippled for life. The nurses worked diligently to save these men. Even by working hard to save these men they were not recognized as army personnel by the public. The Vietnamese citizens and even the male American soldiers looked down upon the nurses. The United States did not acknowledge the nurses that served in the Vietnam War until 1993. The nurses that served in the Vietnam War, although commonly unrecognized, served as bravely as their soldier counterparts, and some suffered much of the same mental and physical distress.
American nursing transformed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century from a family and community duty performed largely by untrained women in family homes, to paid labor performed by both trained and untrained women and men in a variety of settings. Distinctions between types of nurses increased in this transition. Life histories of nurses taken by Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) writers in the late 1930s provide valuable insight into the experience of some of these nurses.
patients. Girard’s (2011) study further enforces our belief on the importance of a nurse wearing their scrubs by the study’s outcome of “Fifty percent of adult visitors of pediatric patients rated a nurse’s uniform as a very important indicator of nurse professionalism, and only 10% thought it was not important at all.” (p.420) The majority of people placed a higher importance on a nurse’s uniform because it represents the nurse’s professionalism. If a nurse comes into work unprepared and having wrinkles on their uniform then the patient will believe that the nurse can’t take care of them because the nurse can’t take care of themselves.
During the mid-twentieth century American’s view of nurses was drastically changing according to Judd & Sitzman the authors of “A History of American Nursing: Trends and Eras.” Prior to this time period the job of a nurse was not something that was very valued. The women who chose this work were not looked upon as highly as they are today. Judd & Sitzman write that during this time “nurses were respected, revered, and deemed professionals; they were portrayed in recruitment posters.” Nursing was now a profession women could actually seek to do outside of the home that was not frowned upon. Nursing was now being viewed as a valued profession. The mere fact that there were recruitment posters being created and displayed proves this point.
Subsequently, women volunteered through national or local associations or by getting permission from a commanding officer (“Nursing”). In April 1861, Dorothea Dix assembled a collection of volunteer female nurses which staged a march on Washington, demanding that the government distinguish their desire to assist the Union’s wounded soldiers. She organized military hospitals for the care of all sick and wounded soldiers, aiding the head surgeons by supplying nurses and considerable means for the ease and aid of the suffering. After she recruited nurses; nursing was greatly improved and her nurses were taken care of under her supervision (Buhler-Wilkerson). During the Civil war, most nurses were women who took care of the ill and injured soldiers. Both male and female nurses have cared for the soldiers in every American war. The majority of nurses were recruited soldiers pressed into duty. Civil war nurses worked in hospitals, on the battlefield, and in their homes (Post). The first carnage of the war made it possible for nursing to become a professional occupation. The women who proved themselves as capable volunteers established nursing as an acceptable field of employment for women after the war. The contributions of the thousands of female nurses helped to alter the image of the professional nurse and changed American nursing from a male-dominated to a largely female profession (Woodworth). Clara Barton, one of the nurses who contributed to the Civil War, founded the American Red Cross, brought supplies and helped the battlefronts before formal relief organizations could take shape to administer such shipments (Buhler-Wilkerson). The religious orders given responded to the new opportunity for servicing the injured by sending t...
The history of nursing dates back to the medieval times to today. It started off with nuns, in addition to their religious practices, attended the sick and dying. Nurses were usually females back then. When the Crimean War went on, an English nurse, Florence Nightingale, started the foundation for nursing. Florence Nightingale wrote the first book of nursing, saying the requirements, and details of nursing. In 1901, New Zealand founded the first registration of nurses with the Nurses Registration Act. One of the first Registered nurses was Ellen Dougherty. Over the years nursing developed to what it is today. Even today nursing is still evolving, innovating, and expanding. Today instead of only having female nurses, there are many male nurses in the field. Although, nursing has stayed somewhat the same over the years, technology has had a big impact on it. This impact has mostly been positive. Technology makes nurses jobs easier, it facilitates communication on the go, and allows remote care/monitoring. With technology, nurses don’t have to be with the patient 24/7. Technology does things nurses used to do, so that nurses can attend other things. With more technology coming into the medical field, this will only help the nurses more in the future.
West, E., Griffith, W., Iphofen, R. (2007, April vol.16/no.2). A historical perspective on the nursing
Registered nurses came through a long way back to the 19th century, when they used to provide care to the injured soldiers and other injures strangers. Florence Nightingale was the first influenced in this career. She was a daughter of a British family who worked her life to improve the field of nursing. Her main goal was to spread this field throughout the countries. As a success the first school was in the United States, in Boston. Then later it was passed to New York and others states. In today’s society we are still acknowledge to her great work. And improve the medical field for a better upgrade towards today’s society and generation.
Throughout society, though they didn’t always have the title, nurses have played an important role. In early civilizations the first people who served in their community as nurses were mothers who nurtured and cared for ill family and community members. During the early Christian period nurses were members of male religious orders; by the crusades, due to a huge demand in health care, both men and women were nurses.
The history of nurses hadn’t developed until the nineteenth century. The first law was passed to require that nurses attain a license in 1938. After passing this law, the New York State began a movement to have certain programs to promise new standards in the field. Since the first schools were opened the training and criteria has changed tremendously. Education standards for nurses have improved in many different ways. Programs are an option throughout the country, and there are laws to back up the qualification and training standards for licensure. The nursing field is an important role as a part of the health care team, and can benefit one is so many ways. The history of nurses has changed from being a minor occupation to a major one. In today’s society people rely on nurses, doctors, and specialists more than ever. Nurses have brightened our future in the most beneficial way (Hopke 592).
Nursing was not always the profession we know it as today. “Nurses were often lower class, usually had no education, and were often alcoholics, prostitutes, and women who were down on their luck” (Finkleman & Kenner, 2013, p. 9). There was a high morality rate due to the lack of training and unkept environment the patients stayed in. However, when Florence Nightingale came into the nursing world everything changed. She believed that nurses shouldn’t be lower-class alcoholic women but women of higher class with an education. Therefore, she opened a school in London to train and educate women because “Nursing is an art and a science” (Masters, 2015, p. 29). She believed an average person should be able to understand medical
Nursing had not initially been a career option for me, but nursing had made an impact on my life, even at an early age. There was a picture frame that sat on my mother’s dresser with an image of her in her student nurse uniform. It was very formal, and she wore a blue cape with red satin lining. This image gave me my first impression of nursing. Helping my mother with the laundry, bleaching the white uniforms and starching the stiff white cap banded with a thin black velvet ribbon was another activity I associated with nursing. In 1979, my mother was sent to Hershey Medical Center for training to become the first certified Enterostomal Therapist in the state of Virginia. It was at that point that I realized that nursing was a profession, with unique career goals, education and training that was
The mental image most people think a nurse wears is a white long dress, white stocking and shoes with a white hat. People ask ,what makes a nurse look the way they do? It all started in (1850-1900) the early days of nursing the uniform were based off the habits of religious orders. Uniforms were introduced in the Adelaide Hospital in 1898. When nurses were in training they wore the color blue that also wore a veil (folded square of starched muslin) to protect themselves.The way they knew what kind of trainee they were by color. Blue(ACH), Pink(RAH). What they wore with those colors were white collar, cuffs, and an apron. Before the twentieth century nurses traditionally worn uniforms surgeons worn their own clothes during surgery. Not using anything like sterilized garments or protective wear on any party of their body. Eventually They started practising wear aprons during medical procedures In 1918 the spanish flu pandemic rose awareness about the spread of the dangerous infection. Nurses and doctor started wearing cotton gauze mask to protect themselves from the sick people that th...
Nicole Fortenberry, enjoys helping and caring for others in the medical field. She had been working at Forrest General for almost a year (Fortenberry 1). Still to this day, senior female nurses in England are still known as ¨sister¨ (Allgeyer 2).
During the Civil War, women began to feel like part of the work force, but along with it, was the downfall of being considered "service workers", which is very similar to being a servant. Nurses had to suffer through much conformity, as they had to wait hand and foot on male patients, while at the same time being scrutinized by their male "overseers". These issues that nurses faced in the nineteenth century, continue even to this day, with a little more ease, but we are still driven by a patriarchal society that just isn't ready to let go. Through the works of Louisa May Alcott and Charlotte Perkins Gillman, one can see the hardships that Nineteenth century women were faced with when it came to working. These stories bring to light the fact that, by overcoming oppression, through the strength and desire that leads to resistance, women have been able to achieve self-reliance, which makes their "service work" considered to have with it, an achieved independence. These stories show us the struggles that women faced in the nin...