History of Nursing

From the dawn of human societies, people have attempted to heal one another and care for the sick and wounded. In Western cultures, doctors eventually replaced shamans and medicine men; semi-professional nurses came on the scene to assist family care givers; and in cities, the focus of major health care moved from the home to specialized medical districts. While some people identify the theater of Hippocrates (he of “Hippocratic Oath” fame) on the Greek island of Kos as the world’s first hospital, it’s more probable that first hospital we would recognize as such was founded in Jerusalem by the Knights Hospitalers of St. John in the 11th century AD.

The “nursing school” is said to have been founded in India in about 250 BC; according to the document known as The Charaka, it trained only men “of good behavior, distinguished for purity, possessed of cleverness and skill, imbued with kindness, skilled in every service a patient may require, competent to cook food, skilled in bathing and washing the patient, rubbing and massaging the limbs, lifting and assisting him to walk about, well skilled in making and cleansing of beds, readying the patient and skillful in waiting upon one that is ailing and never unwilling to do anything that may be ordered.” For the next 2000 years, men and women received training in caring for the sick and wounded in many different ways: from healers and physicians, from hospitals and hospices, and from military organizations. But one war, and one woman, would change nursing and nursing education forever.

In 1853, war broke out between Russia and the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey), and England and France soon entered the war on the side of the Ottomans. In 1854, English and French forces attempted to invade the peninsula called the Crimea, in what is now The Ukraine, expecting to surprise the Russians and meet little resistance. The “Crimean War” turned into a fiasco; strong Russian defenses and horrible strategic decisions caused massive allied casualties. Because of poor logistical support, malnutrition, and little or no sanitation and hygiene at the main allied barracks hospital, appalling numbers of wounded British soldiers died from disease. The British government allowed a woman named Florence Nightingale to try to set things right. Nightingale was trained in nursing despite her wealthy family’s strong objections. She led a team of nurses to the barracks hospital and virtually single-handedly overhauled the treatment of the soldiers there. The result was a dramatic reduction in the hospital’s rates of disease and death. She went on to revolutionize nursing, health care, and hospital design throughout Europe and in India, founded the Visiting Nurse Association, contributed to the founding of the British Army Medical School, and gave her name to the Nightingale Training School for Nurses at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London. The “Florence Nightingale Pledge,” written for the graduates of Detroit’s Farrand Training School for Nurses, what the Hippocratic Oath is to doctors.

In the Pakistan first School of Nursing was established in 1884 Myo Hospital Lahore, but instead of that no any Indian Nurse could get admission till 1934. In this School only Anglo-Indians allowed to get admission. After Independence 2nd School of Nursing was inaugurated at Ganga Ram Hospital Lahore in 1948, from where seven girls graduated. To see the college education scenario in Indo-Pak the First College of Nursing was established in Delhi 1941 AND in Pakistan, College of nursing was established in 1955 at civil hospital Karachi, first batch of girls got post-graduation in 1957. & affiliated with Karachi University later on it was shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre Karachi in 1959. This JPMC College of Nursing was offering the Postgraduate Diploma in Ward Administration & Teaching Administration.