HISTORY OF

NURSING

Major Periods in the

History

Intuitive
Apprentice
Educated
Contemporary

INTUTITIVE Nursing

means distinctive or untaught

the philosophy is the best for the most

application of Law of Preservation

Causes of diseases

Main causes of diseases :

Invasion of the body by an EVIL spirit

SHAMAN witch doctor has the power

to heal using white magic.

Codes of Therapy :

Hypnosis
Charms
Incantations
Purgatives
Massage
Fire
Water
herbs

Goal of Therapy

Driving away the evil

spirits from the victims
body

If not successful....

Perform the so called ...

TREPHINING
A procedure of drilling a hole in the skull with
rock or stone without the benefit of
anesthesia

Nurses role was directed toward...

Comforting
Practicing midwifery
Being wet nurse to a child

Nursing in the East

Milestones:

Ancient man did make progress in the

practice of medicine but nursing DID
NOT change

Care of the sick was still closely allied to

religion, superstition and magic

In Babylonia, King Hammurabi codified

the BABYLONIAN Laws

CODE of HAMMURABI- is an evidence

of government controlled, well regulated
practice of medicine

In Egypt, art of EMBALMNING enhanced

their knowledge on human anatomy but
physiology part was left.

Nursing was never mentioned in the

Egyptian relics however, it is assumed that
without the hospital and personal, the
SLAVES and patients families nursed the
sick

As to the history of Hebrew people,

reference to nurses in the Five book of
Moses is as midwife, wet nurse or
childs nurse not the same concept of
today

Nursing in the FAR

EAST

Chinese cultures were imbued with a

belief in spirits and demons.

Boy babies were given girls names and

dressed in girls clothes to avoid evil
befalling them.

Chinese ancestor prohibited the

dissection of the human body thus
THWARTING scientific study

China gave the world the knowledge of

MATERIA

MEDICA

Or Pharmacology

No mentioned of nursing in chinese

writings, so tha care of the sick fell to the
female members of the household

In India, hampered by taboos resulting from

social structure and their practice of animal
worship

Men of medicine built hospital, practiced an

intuitive form of asepsis

In the writings of SUSHURUTU, written 200-300

year BC can be found list of references to the
nurse taking patients

Priest nurse were described as

combination of pharmacist, masseurs,
physical therapist and cooks.

Nursing in ANCIENT
GREECE

CADUCEUS- the insignia of the medical

profession today is part of the gifts of
Greeks

AESCULAPIUS the father of medicine

in Greek mythology

HIPPOCRATES considered as the

Father of Medicine

Hippocrates developed a philosophy of

medicine and practiced medical ethics
that still seem modern.

He developed a method of clinical

observation through case taking and
recording of findings

APPRENTICE Period

Nursing care are performed by people

who are directed by more experienced
nurses

Known as On the Job training

performed without formal education

1.
2.
3.

Military religious orders founded during

the Crusades established hospital and
staff them with men who served as
nurses
Knights of St John of Jerusalem
Knights of St Lazarus
Alexian Brothers


1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Religious nursing orders started to rise

such as:
Augustinians
Benedictines
Ursulines
Tertiaries of St. Francis
Tertiaries of St. Dominic

Work of nurses were complicated with

religious taboos and social restrictions of
their culture and education

Laundry was practically done by nurses


1.
2.

The rise of Nursing Saints were also

observed such as:
St Clare
St Catherine of Sienna- the 1st Lady
with the Lamp


1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Charles Dickens described SAIREY

Gamp as:
Fat old woman
With husky voice
Has remarkable power of turning up the
eye and only showing the white
Always drunk
Untidy in appearance

Description of hospitals

Poorly ventilated
Beds has mattresses with straw that
was cleaned about 3x a year
3-4 patients may shared one bed
Very dirty environment

EDUCATED Nursing

June 15, 1860 is considered as the

cornerstone of Nursing in England.

(15) Fifteen probationers entered St. Thomas

Hospital in London to establish the Nightingale
system of nursing.

Need of Nursing school as

felt by Nightingale

decent living quarters for students

should have paid nurse instructors

schools should correlate theory to practice

students should be taught the why not just

the how.

Early schools of Nursing

In 1893, three (3) schools opened

patterned after the Nightingale system
1. Bellevue Training School for Nurses
2. Connecticut Training School
3. Massachusettes General Hospital

The symbol of the nurse is ....

her UNIFORM

Description of first
uniform

Dress with blue and white striped seersucker

Leg-o-mutton sleeves
Trailing skirts
White apron, collar, cuffs and cap

Nurses CAP denotes.........

HUMILITY
and OBEDIENCE

Later School of Nursing

Schools of nursing, both good and bad

sprout into existence all over the country

Even hospital opened a school as a

means of acquiring cheap labor

John Hopkins Hospital opened a school of

nursing in 1889 with Isabel Hampton Robb
as the 1st principal.

She limited the day of the student nurse to

12 hours allowing two hours per day for
recreation

Did you ever wonder where

the idea for wearing of
rubber gloves as protection
originated?

At John Hopkins, aside from Robb as

principal, another Hampton Caroline also
worked there.

Caroline became head nurse in surgery

when Johns Hopkins opened

Increase rivalry was noted between the 2

Dr William Halstead brought the situation to a

peaceful solution by appointing Caroline as
OR supervisor

However, Caroline suffered form dermatitis

Dr. Halstead took time out from his busy

schedule to ask the Goodyear Rubber
Company to make some rubber gauntlets

Period of
Contemporary
Nursing

51 nations signed the Charter creating a

United Nations in 1945 at California

Purpose:
International peace
International security

1.
2.

World Health Organization was established

in Geneva, Switzerland in 1948.

Purpose:
1. To assist in fighting disease by providing
health information, improving the nutrition,
living standards and environmental
conditions for all people.

Among the many developments influencing

nursing are atomic energy, computers,
discriminating diagnostic and therapeutic
agents and space explorations