Historically, women have made up a large majority of the profession and academic discipline of nursing. [1] Women's nursing roles include both caring for patients and making sure that the wards and equipment are clean. In the United States, women make up the majority of the field of nursing, comprising 86% of Registered Nurses (RNs) in 2021; [2] globally, women comprise 89% of the nursing workforce. [3]
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Nurses in the past were often required to work long days and care for many patients, for very little pay. In addition, the typical university setting where nurses learned the work of the trade was not in existence back then. Instead, nurses learned the trade while working in the field. Another difference was that nursing students were called probationers. As probationers, they were required to follow the strict rules and regulations that were set forth by the institution. Additionally, probationers were required to follow all physicians’ orders without question and perform various household duties. After learning how to take orders, probationers were then sent to the operating room for a 6-week rotation. During that 6-week period, probationers learned how to inventory sterile bandages, keep operating room meticulously clean and provide sterile water for surgeons during surgery. Upon completion of their training, probationers turned into nurses.
As nurses, some of their roles included providing patient education concerning nutrition and child related illnesses when needed. In general, nurses were the ones responsible for bathing patients, inserting catheters, dispensing medications, administering enemas, keeping the ward clean, and making sure that everything was documented correctly. During that time, there were no nurses' aides available to help with the daily care of patients. Thusly, all tasks fell upon the nurse. To add to that long list of tasks, a nurse was also responsible for preparing any holistic medications that were needed at the time to treat the various alignments that patients presented with. In the present time, holistic medications are hardly used, and any medications that are required are generally handled and prepared by a pharmacy. This is with the expectation of some intravenous (IV), antibiotics, and insulin preparations that the nurse will prepare on the floor (after receiving an order from a doctor). [4] [ clarification needed ] Listed below are more duties of nurses in these time periods.
During this time nursing uniforms were very similar to "servants’ uniforms, which consisted of a full black or printed gown with a white gathered or banded cap and a white apron." Around 1840, the field of nursing gained more respect and nurses were trained more. With this said the uniforms worn at this time started to change from the servant uniforms to the more classic "ladylike gowns with white aprons and caps to indicate that they were nurses." During this time, Florence Nightingale introduced new forms of education and uniforms for nurses, including the introduction of different colored hat bands to illustrate rank. "Fresh nurse students would wear ribbon bands of pink, blue, or other pastel colors. Senior nurses and nursing teachers would wear black ribbon bands to indicate seniority."
This period brought about the start of change in the uniforms by adding white bibs and pockets to the dresses. In addition, large hats were worn that resembled a nun's hat and veil. These types of uniforms stayed in practice up until the First World War, when it was decided that the uniforms needed to be revamped to make them more practical and improve nurses' efficiency. For instance, the sleeves on the uniforms were changed so that they rolled up, the bulky aprons were removed, and the shirts shortened. All these things helped with convenience and allowed nurses to function better, and were often coupled with shoulder-covering capes, which were usually navy or dark blue in colour on the outside with red lining on the inside. [15]
By the 1950s, paper hats and simple folded hats replaced the large, elaborate crown-like caps that were worn by nurses during the First World War. The simple paper hats were more comfortable. The policy to use hats to denote seniority level was abolished, since the morale of nurses was affected by the discrimination. Dresses also evolved, since no one has the time to launder elaborately tailored clothing anymore. Dresses became less form fitting and were easy to wash, iron and wear." [15]
By the 1970s with the appearance of males in the field wearing scrubs, the female uniforms once again changed, they "became less gendered". The hat was lost and uniforms become less formal. In addition, they started to resemble normal clothing. [16] By the 1980s, the cap and the cloth apron were gone. To replace the cloth apron, nurses started to wear disposable ones. [17]
Nurses today continue to wear scrubs with many different colors and patterns available. The scrubs usually consist of drawn string pants and a V-neck top. The formal uniform (i.e. color and patterns allowed) though varies by policy. In some facilities it is required that the different types of employees all wear different color scrubs so that their specific job title can be determined by their scrub color. For example, "nurses in one color, techs in another, etc." Additionally "some hospitals are even going back to requiring that nurses wear white, though they haven't yet returned to skirts, hats, and stockings." [16]
The clothing nurses wear today is not the only thing recognizable. The dedication and hard work go into the field is recognized. Due to recent world wide events, such as the COVID 19 pandemic and the retirement of older generation nurses, has encouraged an increase in young nurses to step foot into the field. [18]
See List of nurses.
The nurses listed obtained great recognition because of their achievements such as being the first ever graduate nurse, the first person to establish the profession of nursing, and established a school for nursing as well as different types of nursing subfields. [20]
