2.3: History of the Nursing Knowledge

The history of nursing as a profession began with Florence Nightingale who served in the Crimean War by caring for the wounded in Scutari and her establishment of a School of Nursing at St. Thomas hospital in London. The 1900s–1940s marked the curriculum era in nursing. During this time emphasis was placed on the curriculum content needed to train nurses. The 1950s–1970s focused on the role for nurses and content for nursing research. This era also formulated the role and program content for the advanced nursing role and graduate education. The 1980s–1990s focused on nursing theory or how one looks at the way in which theories guide research and practice. Nursing in the twenty-first century focuses on the way in which nursing theories are utilized and how nursing theory guides research, practice, education, and administration [5].