Nursing Education In Nursing

What do Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, Dorthea Dix, and Lavinia Dock all have in common? All of these women made changes in the practice of nursing in great ways and are leaders in the advancement of nursing. The nursing shortage throughout American history has changed education in the medical field. Nursing education has been determined not only by the evolution of technology and advances in science, but by the needs and development of society over time.

Initially, nursing education programs were an informal part of hospitals and prepared young women to provide soothing, calming care to patients (Klainberg). These nurses were used to doing the work that doctors didn't want to do. Courses for a basic nursing occupation could be done in as little as six months. This was because at the time, this occupation was viewed to need little skill or extensive training. These programs trained the students to simply provide food and a clean environment to patients. Hospital-based diploma schools of nursing were the first form of nursing education in the United States. Admission to these programs was limited to just white women. The first program to admit only one black and one Jewish woman in each class was established at the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston, Massachusetts in 1863 (Klainberg). It wasn’t until 1872, that formal nursing schools were established, and students graduating from these programs were given a diploma when they graduated (Klainberg 29).

The demand and training of nurses has evolved over the years. As Klainberg explains, “Much of this is based on the need for nurses in wars fought by the United States. During and following the American Revolution, men served...

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...rs: American Revolution". History and Collections. Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foudation Inc.. Web. May 2014.

This source was useful to how women stepped up to help be nurses during war time where there could have been terrible shortage.

Klainberg, Marilyn. “An Historical Overview of Nursing.” Jones and Bartlett Publishers 2010.

Web. 27 March 2014.

This source greatly helped me get a foundation for my paper and taught me the most about my topic.

Whelan, Jean. “Where Did All the Nurses Go?” Penn Nursing Science. University of

Pennsylvania. Web. April 2014.

This source was great source of historic information of shortages and their causes.

*I was a volunteen and I now currently work at Meridian Gardens where I have learned a lot, picking information up along the way about Nursing and the Great Depression.

Works Cited