Teaching history to nurses: will this make me a better nurse?

Abstract

Nursing has a long and rich past. Yet this is rarely conveyed to undergraduate nursing students resulting in nurses devaluing the achievements of earlier nurses. It is argued here that studying the history of nursing has a number of benefits for undergraduate students as well as the profession at large. It provides students with a realistic understanding of nursing and what has influenced past developments to bring us to the present situation. As such, it provides students with the context of nursing practice and thus a firm foundation for other nursing courses to build upon. In addition, studying the history of nursing, especially at the beginning of the undergraduate program, builds fundamental critical thinking skills by encouraging students to question the evidence before them and to seek out influencing factors or 'the bigger picture'. These issues are outlined in this paper, along with factors to consider when teaching the history of nursing to students, including the information presented, what approach to take, teaching strategies and resources.