Nursing at the Turn of the Century

Up to the late 19th century nursing evolved from religious, militaristic and social backgrounds. But it was not until Florence Nightingale, a well‐bred Englishwoman who volunteered to care for the sick and wounded during the Crimean War (1854–56), demonstrated the nurse's efficiency in hospital organization and in ensuring proper hygiene that nursing's vital place in healthcare delivery was firmly established. Based on her experience, she published “Notes on Nursing” in 1859, which launched a crusade for implementing her ideas and a hospital reform movementIt is significant perhaps that many events took place during the formative years of ICN founders. Great Britain, with Queen Victoria on the throne, was enjoying an era of relative peace. Between 1876 and 1896 Alexander Graham Bell developed the telephone, Thomas A. Edison invented the microphone and phonograph, Edison and Swan invented the incandescent lamp and Marconi developed the telegraph. Medical science was beginning its era of true science. Between 1879 and 1898, Pasteur discovered the principles of vaccines, Roentgen discovered the X‐ray and the Curies radium. Creativity in the arts was at a zenith, notably the works of I