History Of Community Health Nursing c6u6w

History of Community Nursing Matrix NUR/405 Version 3

Historical time period

Nursing role in community

Major health issues

Partnerships used

Past period 1

Ancient civilization

Little is known about nursing during this time because of lack of recorded information. It is known that midwives provided care for the mother and the infant during childbirth. It is though that much of the nursing care was provided by slaves. It is also said that care provided for the sick was related to physical maintenance and comfort. In the ancient India, early hospitals were staffed by males. Blais,Haynes,Kozier, & Erb, 2006.

Little is documented about the diseases that plagued this time period. Leprosy and diphtheria is recorded in the Bible. The earliest recordings of healing practices is a 4000 year old clay tablet attributed to the Sumerian civilization; it contained healing prescriptions but did not describe the illnesses. Beliefs about the cause of disease were embedded in supersition and magic. Blais,Haynes,Kozier, & Erb, 2006.

Past period 2

1600s1900s

During these times the female head of household was identified as being responsible for providing the nursing care. This included growing and gather herbs used for healing throughout the year. Nursing care focused on moral elevation and less on illness preventation.

Epidemics of smallpox, yellow fever, cholera, typhoid, typhus, tuberculosis, malaria. Infant mortality rate high due to unsanitary hospitals and poorly trained staff. Inadequate housing and sanitation provided additional health risk.

The Babylonians documented the first law governing the practice of medicine. Egyptians contributed the practice of mummification and the oldest medical text. The Hebrew contributed the Mosaic Health Code to history of health care. The Romans contributions to health care was in public sanitation, the draining of marshes and the building of aqueducts, public and private baths, draining systems, and central heating. Blais,Haynes,Kozier, & Erb, 2006. Elizabethian Poor law written in 1601. Baltimore health Department established in 1789. System of district nursing established in Liverpool,England in 1859 by William Rathbone. Florence Nightingale established Florence Nightingale Training School for Nurses at St. Thomas hospital in London. First Red Cross was established in the United States in 1864.

Current period

Present day

Nurses in the community today have many roles. They function as the clinician, educator, advocate, manager,

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Watson’s theory

History of Community Nursing Matrix NUR/405 Version 3 collaborator, leader, and researcher. They play an important role in the prevention of widespread illness and diseases.

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