The word "nurse" is associated with child-suckling in Latin. Nursing is therefore strongly connected with women in many cultures. Males, on the other hand, have played an essential role in the history of nursing, although they have been mostly disregarded. The gender gap in nursing can be closed only if the media ceases portraying the profession as feminine (O'Lynn et al., 2006). The nursing profession was no longer considered a female preserve after the New York City training school became the first executive center to train men nurses. Ever since the advent of equality concerns, governments all over the world have taken upon themselves to legislate and design policies to close the ratio between male and female in various professions, including nursing. Incentives, scholarships and employment for young men will be a good place to start (Pearce, 2016). In this light, following the establishment of the association that brings together nurses from America, Steve Miller spearheaded the development of men's nursing association in 1971 (Advancing Men in Nursing, 2017, about-us/history).
There are numerous pioneers who brought about revolution in the nursing profession. Minerva Franklin, for instance, conducted a two-year survey in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1906, on the status and employment of black nurses. From the survey, she noted that the State Nurses Associations did not admit black members. This prompted Martha Minerva Franklin, Adah Belle Samuels Thoms and fifty other nurses in 1908, to install the association that catered for graduate nurses who were colored (NACGN) in 1908. The association had a chief aim of advancing the caliber of nurses, eliminating discrimination in the field of nursing and fostering leadership amongst nurses who were black (Davis, A. T. 1999).
Born in May 7, 1845, Mary Eliza Mahoney was among the first skillfully coached nurses in the America. She graduated in 1879 and flourished in a predominantly white and discriminative society. Martha Minerva, Adah Belle Samuels Thoms and her, jointly founded the association that catered for graduate nurses who were colored (NACGN) and championed against discrimination on African American Nurses.
Isabel Hampton was born in 26th August, 1859. She was an author, nursing school administrator and the first superintendent of nurses at the John Hopkins School of Nursing. She was a co-founder of the National League of nurses, the International Council of Nurses and the American Nurses Association. She played a major role in developing an advanced training curriculum at the John Hopkins School of Nursing (McCall et al.,1982).
Ethel Bedford Fenwick - who hailed from Britain, equally played a significant role in the advancement of nursing as a profession. Her immense contribution was through her advocacy for a nursing certificate that would allow nurses to be recognized nationally. She additionally lobbied for parliament to pass laws limiting the practice of nursing to registered nurses only. She helped in the founding of Florence Nightingale International Foundation, and the International Council of Nurses (McGann, S., 1992). Sally Louisa Tompkins was also an exceptional nurse. She was rumored that she had been given duty in the Confederate army as the only female. During the civil war in America, a hospital situated in Richmond, having the lowest fatality rate, was financed by her in order to offer medication and treatment to soldiers who were wounded (Maggiano, R., 2002).
Florence Nightingale, a professional nurse, helped lay the basis of professional nursing through the establishment of a nursing school. The London-based school was situated at St Thomas' Hospital. New nurses take the Nightingale pledge in recognition of her dedication to nursing (McDonald, 2010). Another distinguished individual in the nursing profession is Dorothea Dix - who, during the American 1861 conflict was the overseer of nurses and a protester. She led the pioneering group of American hospitals which offered psychiatric help (Tsui, 2006). The first professionally coached nurse in America was Linda Richards. In Japan and America, she spearheaded the development of nursing training syllabus. Linda is recognized for initializing medical record keeping of hospitalized patients (Doona, 1996).
Clara Barton is also a force to reckon with in the history of nursing profession. She is recognized for pursuing philanthropic work and by founding the Red Cross in America. During America's internal war that lasted for four years, she worked as a nurse and offered clerical services to the patients. Their devotion of the above named persons to preserve human life and inner resolve to be part of a better nursing system led to a revolution in nursing as a profession.
References
Advancing Men in Nursing. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.aamn.org/about-us/history
Thomas, V. G., & Jackson, J. A. (2007). The education of African American girls and women: Past to present. The Journal of Negro Education, 357-372.
Davis, A. T. (1999). Early Black American leaders in nursing: Architects for integration and equality. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Doona, M. E. (1996). Linda Richards and nursing in Japan, 1885-1890.Nursing history review: official journal of the American Association for the History of Nursing, 4, 99.
James, E. T., James, J. W., & Boyer, P. S. (1971). Notable American women, 1607-1950: a biographical dictionary (Vol. 2). Harvard University Press.
Maggiano, R. (2002). Captain Sally Tompkins: Angel of the Confederacy.Magazine of History, 16(2), 32.
McCall, N., & Kanarek, H. (1982). The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 56(1), 88.
McDonald, L. (Ed.). (2010). Florence Nightingale: The Crimean War: Collected works of Florence Nightingale (Vol. 14). Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press.
McGann, S. (1992). The battle of the nurses: a study of eight women who influenced the development of professional nursing, 1880-1930. Scutari Press.
O'Lynn, C. E., & Tranbarger, R. E. (Eds.). (2006). Men in nursing: History, challenges, and opportunities. Springer Publishing Company.
Pearce, L. (January 01, 2016). Bridging the gender pay gap. Nursing Standard (royal College of Nursing (great Britain) : 1987), 31, 1, 18-21.
Pryor, Elizabeth Brown (1988). Clara Barton: professional angel (1st pbk. print. ed.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. ISBN 978-0-8122-1273-0
Tsui, B. (2006). She went to the field: Women soldiers of the civil war. Rowman & Littlefield.
