9. Isabel Hampton and the Professionalization of Nursing in the 1890s

History for a practice profession

“…These questions, I might add, are also framed by my long‐standing interest in the quite fluid historical relationships between and among the nurses, families, and physicians who cared for the sick in nineteenth‐century homes (O’Brien 1987; D’Antonio 1993). And it is this notion that historically there have been different nurses from different class backgrounds doing different work that makes me wonder, what if instead of complaining as did the late nineteenth‐century American nursing leader Isabel Hampton Robb, that the term nurse means ‘everything, anything, and next to nothing’ (James 1979, 232), we were to embrace a sense of nurses and nursing work as truly diverse and different?…”

Apprenticeship and Exploitation: An Analysis of the Work Pattern of Nurses in Training, 1897–1937

“…2 On first glance, the choice of St. Luke's may seem unusual. Other studies of nursing during this era have tended to focus on exemplary training programs, such as those at Johns Hopkins or New York Hospital (James 1979;Mottus 1981;Tomes 1984;King 1987). But it is exactly the ordinariness of the St. Luke's program, as perceived by community groups, accrediting agencies, and prospective nurses, that makes it a useful choice (Olson 1991a(Olson , 1991b.…”

“…18 Issues related to preparation for entry into nursing practice have been accompanied by controversy and conflict since the beginning of modern nursing. For historical insight, see James 1979. Currently, basic entry can be at any one of the following levels: approximately one year of vocational education, a two-year associate degree, a three-year diploma, a baccalaureate degree, or a master's degree.…”