Reflective Journal

This time in history was very tumultuous. There was a lot going on and a lot about to be going on whether people knew it or not. This time period was a kind of priming for what was to come. It makes sense then that nursing history followed suit. From the American branch of the red cross to the American Nurses Association this period was packed with things going on that would lead to some great things in the near future. There was no shortage of fantastic nurses during this time period either. These were usually woman that most of us aspire to be like both as nurses and just as women in general. These woman such as Clara Barton, Isabel Hampton Rodd, or  Ana Caroline Maxwell, and many countless others. These few women mentioned were instrumental in the set up of some of our most well known organizations such as the American Red Cross that serves thousands of people for various needs on a daily basis. It is the period of time where nursing started to become an option for woman on a re...

In the United States there was a lot happening for nurses. The driving force behind these changes was the American Civil War. Everything from woman routinely in the battle front hospitals to former slaves and abolitionists serving as nurses was taking place.

There was so much to be learned in nursing history this week. From the very inspiring stories of Dorothea Dix and Florence Nightingale who both worked for the betterment of nurses and their patients to the nefarious character of Amelia Dyer  who used her skill in nursing for personal gain and killed countless children in her baby farming operation. I actually really enjoyed watching the documentary on Florence Nightingale because it gave a very different perspective of the nursing icon. She wasn't perfect, she wanted to be the boss, and she didn't like working with other people very well.  It also made me realize how important working with other people really is because although Florence worked endlessly to help her patients in Crimea, she failed to see some major, deadly problems in their environment. Dorothea Dix wasn't even a trained nurse and yet was so good at her calling that she was given leadership opportunities and went on to make some huge changes in medicine ...

I am going to get real here. This week was a little difficult. Not because there was a lack of information really but because there was a lack of information about anything or anyone other than Florence Nightingale. The woman was remarkable but I am positive, and have since had my suspicions confirmed, that there was more going on in medical and nursing history at that time rather than Florence Nightingale. This was a little bit of a dead time. Looking back there wasn't a ton going on yet. It was kind of the beginning of things happening and there were necessary lulls during this time that let the world of medicine expand exponentially. As far as nursing goes in the UK and in Europe, nurses were still largely nuns. This remained true into the 1900's. Nursing was not considered a delicate profession. Here in the United states though, the term nurse began to become synonymous with the word midwife. There wasn't really another place for women in medicine during this time perio...