Historical development of nursing - Essay Example

Before the birth of Christ, nursing did not exist as a distinct profession. It started out as caring for sick members of one’s family. At this time, it was viewed as a way of expressing love and showing compassion one’s family member. It was mainly a woman’s work and no education or training was required. Between and 100 and 500 AD, nursing was mainly done by religious groups mainly churches. The establishment of the first general hospital by Fabiola in Rome was a landmark event in the history of nursing.

In the 16th century, women were required to stay at home and look after their families (Nicola & Frances, 2012). This resulted in the deterioration of nursing care since at the time, it was still a profession for women only. Between 1654 and 1656 nursing was realized as sisters of charity took good care of soldiers who were wounded in the battlefields of Arras and Sedan in France. By 1960, the sister of charity was operating in 40 other countries besides France. However, according to Elizabeth and Jerome (2011), it was not until after Florence Nightingale that nursing started to become a reality in the world.

After realizing that very few opportunities were given to women, Florence Nightingale started taking care of the ill while visiting the poor. This is where she developed an interest in a career in nursing. Her most notable contributions happened during the Crimean war. This is after she received reports wounded soldiers were in horrible conditions. In October 1854 together with 38 women that she had trained as nurses, she volunteered to take care of wounded soldiers in the battle field. After noting that there was limited supply for medicine, overworked medical staff and poor hygiene which resulted in fatalities among the soldiers, Nightingale appealed to the British government to find a solution to this problem.

The British government commissioned the designing of a