Nurses Who Have Influenced the Profession of Nursing

Many nurses throughout history have impacted the profession of nursing  caring for those who could not do for themselves. One leader that comes to mind is Dorothea Dix. She aided in founding hospitals that treated the mentally ill. She did so during a time when people thought badly of people with mental illnesses. They were seen as people who could not be cured or helped. If someone had a mental illness, they were often tossed away in a hospital where they were treated cruelly.

Dix wanted to fix this and put all her focus on these issues. It was said that Dix had such a passion in this area because she too was neglected and treated badly by her parents. It also appeared that she may have experienced depression, according to David Gollaher that received access to her writings.

She became an advocate for the mentally ill when in 1841 she started to volunteer to teach Sunday school to female convicts. It was during this time that she witnessed those with mental illnesses being treated in a way that was not right.

She did not like this and decide she would change these conditions. She did the only thing women could really do to be heard during this time and entered her first “memorial” to the state legislature. She mentioned the awful treatment of the mentally ill in prisons, almshouses for the poor and asylums. She wanted the most vulnerable members of society  have a voice and be treated fairly. She knew if no one would listen to them, she would take a stand.

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Her work went unnoticed and brought attention to the value of compassionate care.

After reading and learning what I have so far this week, it has brought me to the realization that nurses are amazing. Being a nurse means having so much kindness and care for others that you would do anything to help heal another human being. Just like Florence Nightingale did when she practiced during fatal epidemics. Florence Nightingale was born in 1820 and started her nursing journey at the age of 24. With that being said, it has brought me to another realization about nursing, it has been around for a very long time. The first known formal school of nursing was in India around 250 B.C. where only men were involved. A third thing that has changed my perception of nursing during my studies this week is that nursing is so broad. People from different backgrounds and different interest become nurses like Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail, who was the founder of Native American Nurses Associations and Mary Eliza Mahoney who was the first black professional nurse in the United States. I think this is what makes nursing so unique. A group of people who can be so different come together and have something in common, caring for those in their time of need.

References

1. Gibson, L. M. (2017). History of Nursing [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://blackboard.sc.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-12509908-dt-content-rid-86313659_2/xid-86313659_2
2. Parry, M. S. (2006). Dorothea dix (1802-1887). American Journal of Public Health, 96(4), 624-5. Retrieved from https://uscupstate.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.uscupstate.idm.oclc.org/docview/215086715?accountid=28698