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History of Black Nurses

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History of Black Nurses
Abstract Trained schools for students who wanted to pursue a career in nursing came about in the 1800s when Florence Nightingale advocated the idea. The only students that were accepted into these programs where white students, blacks were not allowed any education during this time. Blacks were not given equal rights as the white people, and were denied the right to have an education. There were many black young women who were very interested in nursing, and were dedicated to pursue their dream, and wouldn't stop trying until they were given equal rights and accepted into these nursing programs. Some black women would follow along with the black soldiers in the Civil War and provide care to these wounded soldiers, as well as provide food, and also teach them to read and right. The first school of nursing was formed after two black men in Chicago, Illinois won the support of their community, and made a hospital out of a small brick building. The black people also came together to form the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, an organization formed to protect the black nursing profession, and to stop discrimination towards them.

History of Black Nurses During the early 1800s nursing was mainly caring for the sick by family members or slaves. Nurses provided care in homes, and when World War I and II came about, nurses were sent off to provide care to the wounded soldiers. There was not a trained system for nurses to learn and gain experience in the profession, so all of the care that the sick were provided was by untrained nurses. It wasn’t until Florence Nightingale recognized the idea of providing a trained, organized system for nurses to learn before they worked as a professional nurse. Many schools arose out of her idea, however white students were only accepted into these nursing schools, blacks were not accepted. Black people were not given equal rights as the whites, and were denied the right for education and were therefore,



References: American Nurses Association. Nursing World: Caring for those who care. (2010). Silver Spring, MD: The American Nurses Association Haltey, L., (January, 2010) Hines, L. D., (2004). Making history: black nightingales. Retrieved from http:// www.minoritynurse.com/making-history-black-nightingales+ Mary+Seacole MacLean, M., (2007) Provident hospital history. (2010). The Provident Foundation. Retrieved from http://providentfoundation.org/history.reynolds.html White, P., (2010)

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