Historical Perspectives of Nursing and Health Care

Hafiz M Irfan RN, BSN, MSPH

Contents

• Introduction• Stages of Nursing

History• Early Civilization• Ancient Cultures• Islam and

Nursing

• Christianity• Mughal period• Founder of Nursing• Nursing Leaders

Introductions

• Nursing began as a desire to keep people healthy and to provide comfort and assurance to the sick.

• Although the general goals of nursing have remained relatively the same over the centuries, ever-advancing science and the changing of society’s needs have deeply influenced the practice of nursing.

Stages of Nursing

• Nursing from Ancient times to the nineteenth century Early Civilization

Islam Christianity Middle Ages Fifteenth to Nineteenth Century

Early Civilization

• Egyptian physicians are believed to have specialized in certain diseases (such as internal diseases, fractured bones, and wounds). They also hired women, later known as midwives, to assist with childbirth. These women were the first records nurses.

Early Civilization

• Greece

The Greeks believed in Apollo, the Greek god of healing and prayed to him for magic cures for their illness.

400 B.C., the famous Greek physician Hippocrates believed that disease had natural, not magical, causes.

Early Civilization

• Roman Empire After 300 B.C., early physicians built on the groundwork of their Egyptian and Greek predecessors. The Romans are best known for advances in the health of the public.

Early Civilization

• India

In ancient India, early hospitals were staffed by male nurses who were required to meet four qualifications: knowledge of the manner in which drugs should be prepared for administration, cleverness, devotedness to the patient, and purity of mind and body.

Islam and Nursing

• Ethos of Health Care Service• 1st Muslim Nurse Rufaidah Bint Sa’ad• Holistic Approach to health care service• Nursing in Hospitals in 830

Mughal Period and Nursing

• Maham a great lady served as a wet Nurse of King Akbar in Mughal Empire

• She nursed during Wars in India and Afghanistan

Christianity

• With the beginning of Christianity, nursing began to have a formal and more clearly defined role.

• Led by the belief that love and caring for others were important, women made the first visits to sick people, male gave nursing care and buried the dead.

• Nursing became a respected vocation.

Middle Ages

• More hospitals were built.• Nurses delivered custodial care and depended

on physicians for direction.• Nurse midwifery, as one of the oldest nursing

roles, flourished.• Much nursing care was provided by monks

and nuns, which was segregated by sex.

Fifteenth to Nineteenth Century

• The extensive population growth in cities, the lack of hygiene and sanitation and the increasing poverty in urban centers resulted in serious health problem.

• Society changed from one with a religious orientation to one that emphasized warfare, exploration, and expansion of knowledge.

Fifteenth to Nineteenth Century

• Many monasteries and convents closed, leading to a tremendous shortage of people to care for the sick.

• Women who had committed crimes were recruited into nursing in lieu of serving sentences.

• The only acceptable nursing role was within a religious order where services were provided as part of Christianity charity.

The founder of Nursing

• Period of NightingaleFlorence Nightingale was born in 12 May 1820 in a wealthy family;

The founder of Nursing

• Nightingale-EducationHer education included the mastery of several ancient and modern language, literature, philosophy, history, science, mathematics, religion, art and music.

The founder of Nursing

• Formal Trainingshe was determined to become a nurse since she believed she was “called by God to help others and to improve the well-being of mankind”;she visited Kaiserswerth and received nurse’s training at 1850 for three months;

The founder of Nursing

• The lady with lampthe outbreak of the Crimean War gave Nightingale an opportunity for achievement;Nightingale and her nurses transformed the military hospitals by setting up diet kitchens, a laundry, recreation centers, and reading rooms, and organizing classes for orderlies;

The founder of Nursing

• Period of Nightingaleafter the war, Nightingale established the Nightingale Training School for Nursed at St. Thomas’ hospital in London; the school served as a model for other training school;as the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale established the first nursing philosophy based on health maintenance and restoration.

Nursing LeadersClara Barton (1812-1956)

• She was school teacher who volunteered as nurse during American civil war.

• Barton is noted for her role in establishing the American Red Cross.

Walt Whitman

• Men served as nurses. One notable nurse during America Civil War (1861-73) was Walt Whitman.

• He was a poet and writer who served as Hospital Nurse in Washington.

Nursing Leaders

Lillian Wald (1867-1940): • Is considered the

founder of public health nursing.

• She offer trained nursing services to the poor.

Nursing Leaders

Liviana Dock (1858-1956) • Her campaigned for

legislation to allow nurses rather than physicians to control their profession.