Nurses Timeline

1820-1840s

Signs of modern nursing after the Industrial Revolution

Late 19th Century

Women became heavily involved in healthcare

1960s-2000s

Healthcare develops greatly

1800s

Healthcare in the US wasn't a common practice

1850s

Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War

1920s-60s

Nursing as a profession became bigger

Present times

Looking towards the future

History of Nursing

Mid 1700s

United States develops almshouses and isolation hospitals

• In the US, cities established almshouses and isolation hospitals for those sick, poor, or destitute.

• Healthcare in the United States wasn't a common practice up until the 19th century. Health and aid were conducted within the homes for those who were sick and/or ill.

• The first signs of more modern nursing occurred after the Industrial Revolution. Hospitals were used for the lower class sick people. Those of higher classes were still tended within their homes.

• Florence Nightingale is credited with creating the modern way of nursing we know today. Her biggest accomplishment was leading a group of nurses to the frontlines during the Crimean War (1854) to tend to wounded soldiers; She found herself dealing with inadequate supplies, overcrowding, and even uncooperative staff.

• Dorothea Dix (1802-1887) was an advocate for the indigenous community and those mentally ill. In 1861, she became the Superintendent for female nurses in the Union Army during the Civil War. Her contributions paved the way for illness reform.
• Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) was first woman in America to receive a medical degree. She advocated for women to participate in the medical profession and opened her own medical college for women.
• Clara Barton (1821-1912) became a hospital nurse during the Civil War even though she had no medical experience. Barton formed the American Association of the Red Cross in 1881.

• With the advancements of technology, medicines and vaccines became better developed.
• Hospitals began to increase in size, and many women joined the nursing field because of the World Wars. However because of poor conditions, low pay and status, nurses began to choose other professions causing one of the first nursing shortages.
• Nursing became a college major until the 50s.

• President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law in 1965. One of the biggest health reforms since Truman (20 years prior).
• When the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964, Title VI called for healthcare equality.
• Cost of healthcare rises rapidly now that most people are insured under Medicare and/or Medicaid.
• Technology greatly increased causing for improvement in study-based nursing practices.

• Nursing becomes on of the biggest professions in the United States.
• More nurses study to achieve their Bachelors, Master’s, and even Doctorate degrees. Roles have expanded greatly from registered nurses to other specializations.
• Nurses still are facing problems with staffing, poor working conditions, and low pay causing for nurses strikes to occur.
• With the low rate of nurses being accepted into nursing programs, the generation of nurses today are now much older and will retire out before young nurses take their place.