Nursing Timeline of Historical Events

How does knowledge of the foundations and history of nursing provide a context in which to understand current practice? Identify at least three trends in nursing practice from the “Nursing Timeline of Historical Events” media piece. How have these trends influenced your perspective of nursing practice?

History matters. And it seems to matter more now more than ever in our collective memory. Each day public commentators report on how history and historical perspectives have informed the national debate about who we, as a society, are as citizens; what we want as a nation; and how we might move forward in addressing the most serious economic crisis of our generation. When studying the words of these commentators, however, it seems clear that there is not “one” history – that there is not one prescriptive formula that provides a simple solution or explanation for complicated problems. Rather, they present many histories – each starting from a particular stance, using different sources, and offering distinct perspectives. Still, when considered as a whole, these histories provide a much richer understanding of factors and forces that inform broad social policy and particular local practices. They bring real complexity to the forums in which the debate occurs. And they illuminate the complicated dynamics of power that are called into play when deeply held interests and issues need resolution.

History matters to nursing in the same way. And it matters more today now that issues of health care policy and practice, so central to the mission of the profession, have re-engaged the public agenda. We write, however, out of concern that there seems to be only one familiar history to which nurses turn as they consider their place in this process. This history has often been written from the stance of educators deeply concerned about the inability of the profession to control the many different educational routes to nursing practice. Its sources have been a long list of twentieth century reports on the status and future of nursing education. Its perspective has given voice to the language of education and educational reform as a proxy for nursing’s power. In the end, its story is most often one of failure of the profession to control its own destiny.

1. We do not deny some historical circumstances of marginalization, invisibility, and gender biases. They existed and still do. We also celebrate the achievements of extraordinary nurses such as Lillian Wald, the founder of the Henry Street Settlement house and public health nursing, and Mary Breckenridge, who brought nurse-midwives to the mountains of rural Kentucky.
2. But we also argue that the polarization of discrimination and exceptionalism do not do justice to the richness, complexity and the power in nursing’s history. As Patricia D’Antonio has written, it is a history of how a small group of individuals transformed the most traditional of gendered expectations – that of caring for the sick – into respected and respectable work.
3. We further explicate this position with selected and contextualized case study examples (a rich form of historical methodology) from our own work. We write from the stance of practitioners concerned with the possibilities as well the problems in nursing. Our sources vary, and our histories themselves range from nursing in formal institutions to those in more entrepreneurial initiatives, from practice at the bedside to policy formation in national forums. They share a commitment to an historical standpoint as a critical place to explore the contingent relationships among the social, political and economic forces that shaped nursing practice and modern health policy. And they provide examples that explicate the many different ways we can rethink and build upon sources of power and purpose in nursing. We begin with the organization of nurses’ work, the central dimension to all of our practice.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• Student paper example
• Citing Sources
• The Writing Center is a great resource