ASN-110 Alliance: Course Information

ASN-110: Fundamentals of Nursing

College Resources

History of Nursing

Course Objectives

History of Nursing

Nursing began from the earliest times as a service often provided out of religuious dedication. In the late 1800s, Florence Nightingale began working on improving hygiene practices in healthcare. Towards the end of the 1800s formal schools of nursing began opening and the professsion began the transition from simply being caregivers through intuition to being healthcare providers that utilize evidence-based practice.

• Recognize client outcomes using clinical judgment and safe nursing practice to identify health status, health potential, and environmental influences of individuals families and communities.
• Recognize the practice of health promotion and maintenance in the care of patients, families, and the community to maximize and support achievement of optimal health.
• Recognize holistic nursing care that integrates and supports the social, emotional, and mental well-being of patients while respecting individual rights.
• Define physical health and reduction of risk potential using evidence-based care.
• Recognize professional communication to collaborate effectively with other health disciplines, individuals, and families in providing care.
• Recognize the practice of professional nursing within the legal, ethical, and regulatory frameworks using principles of management and leadership in diverse settings.

History of Nursing

Nursing began from the earliest times as a service often provided out of religuious dedication. In the late 1800s, Florence Nightingale began working on improving hygiene practices in healthcare. Towards the end of the 1800s formal schools of nursing began opening and the professsion began the transition from simply being caregivers through intuition to being healthcare providers that utilize evidence-based practice.

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale is often considered the "mother" of nursing. Prior to Nightingale, nursing was often considered to be an indecent job left often to criminals and the lower working class. In the mid-1800s, Nightingale began working as a nurse despite her familys disapproval. Through her own research she was able to identify more soldiers were dying from disease and infection than from actual injuries. Following the development of this nursing hypothesis, she was able to take action by implementing basic hygiene practices such as providing a clean environment and ensuring clean water and food was being provided to the patients. Florence Nightingale attracted the attention of Queen Victoria (of England), and her work led to investigations into Military Hospitals which eventually led a ripple effect of change in sanitary practices used during the provision of healthcare. Florence Nightingale