If you have ever seen a documentary about a war or seen a past war in
a movie then you may have noticed what the role of nurses was like in
the past. Often times we are able to see the role of nurses as trial and
error. Usually women who were around war or battlefields were asked to
assist in taking care of the soldiers. Now individuals who wish to enter
the field of nursing have to have a certain amount of training and
schooling before they can be near patients. This article will look at
the history of nursing education. It will look into the past and chart
the journey that it has made till now.
Most
early nursing records and achievements can be linked to Clara Barton.
During the Civil War she quickly learned that she had to get things
organized and get herself to the battlefield to help the wounded. Due to
her efforts, there was a recognition that the medical world needed to
be a little more organized in order to effectively help patients.
Soon
word spread of the advancements and Congress authorized the founding of
the Army Nurse Cops in 1901. This was the first time in history that we
were able to have accounts of nurses being in a group that would train
them and teach them the tools they would need to better assist soldiers
with their battle wounds. This was also the first time that we see
training in the prevention of diseases. This whole movement started the
ball rolling on the advancements that we have in place today.
Another
major breakthrough came just a few years later with Annie Walburton
Goodrich. She became the first women named president of the American
Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses. She was
instrumental on making sure that schools followed certain guidelines and
that there was proper education for the students.
Some schools
that have been instrumental in the continued education of nursing are
Columbia University, Yale University, and The University of Michigan.
Columbia University has the oldest program in nursing midwifery, it was
the first to offer a masters degree in nursing, and was the first school
to be recognized by the World Health Organization. Yale Nursing School
allowed women to get an education even when they weren't allowed in Yale
University. They also established a Bachelor of Science in Nursing
program. At the University of Michigan, we saw the first five-year
program that offered 2 years in literature, arts, and sciences followed
by three years in nursing.
Nursing programs have developed even
further now and you can continue your education online. You can actually
start by getting a degree in nursing online and obtain higher degrees
or certifications as time goes on. This allows you to gain the knowledge
that you need to gain work and then as you work you will be able to
decide how much further you wish your education to go. Online nursing
degrees can be faster, cheaper, and still offer you quality education.
You can start your journey by finding a school to fit your education
needs.
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