In the history of nursing, nurses were forced to care for others in turn of a prison sentence or prostitution charges (Judd, 2018). Due to this, nursing was far from a respectable profession. According to Judd, women in the early 1800’s weren’t as prominent in the workforce as they are today. They were meant to be homemakers, moms, or “wet-nurses” to those moms who were unable to breastfeed or care for their own children. Women were seen as inferior, compared to men, when it came to strength and intellect. Through the industrial revolution, more work became available for women. However, many women stayed in roles in hospitals and private duty nursing settings. Nightingale completely revolutionized the medical field, bringing in her truly advanced ideas into the nursing world. Early nursing wasn’t like it is today – it often focused on keeping clean water and fresh air available, cleaning the patients and keeping them presentable, and keeping the general environment clean, for prevention of disease. Today, nursing still has these same basics. However, one thing we are so heavily taught in nursing school is – “if it isn’t charted, it wasn’t done”. So, when did this start? When did documentation become, and maintain, such an important part of what we do? (Judd, 2018).
According to the American Association for the History of Nursing, Linda Richards was born on July 27, 1841. She entered a formal nursing education in 9/1872 and graduated a year later. She worked as an assistant nurse before her formal training. She was well known for her works in education. In 1874, she was the “superintendent of the Boston Training School.” (American Association for the History of Nursing, n.d.) In 1892, she established a school at the Philadelphia’s Methodist Episcopal Hospital, and in 1893-94, she reorganized nursing programs and was maintaining superintendent of at least 2 other training schools. (American Association for the History of Nursing, n.d.) During all this, she also was “recognized as a pioneer in developing nursing documentation, training for nurses, and clarification of professional duties while working at New York’s Bellevue Hospital Training School, focused much of her attention on nursing in mental health care facilities” (Office of Mental Health. 5/2017). While working in multiple hospitals, Linda started to notice that aside from doctors keeping some personal notes, there wasn’t a formal record-keeping system and that patients with more chronic conditions would get treated as a brand-new patient, every visit. (Concordia, 2020). Richards then went to evaluate information in patient charts that should be shared – such as allergies, past diagnosed diseases, and their history (Concordia, 2020). Due to this revelational new system, many patients were better treated, treating diseases more effectively, and decreasing unnecessary pain. Due to this, mortality rates decreased as there was more efficient treatment in long term illness. (Concordia, 2020). At 70 years old, Richards retired and passed away 5/16/1930. (American Association for the History of Nursing, n.d.)
It is amazing to know that nursing started out as a “get out of jail card”. Women forced to care for others, really serve others, and this led to a negative view of nurses. Florence Nightingale really changed the view of nurses, and the more that nurses were required to have formal training, the respect only grew through the years. Today, nursing still has those basic principles – keeping our patients clean, fed, and their environment with clean air, food, and water. However, our roles go so much further. Much of what we do is chart, chart, and chart some more! It can cause so much anxiety thinking about if our documentation systems go down, or we have to paper chart! Before Linda Richards, there was no formal documentation. Could you imagine going to work treating the same patients but having no clue what was done by the previous nurse, or the previous day? Thanks to Linda Richards, we have a very strict protocol to ensure that every action that is done for our patients is recorded. While this is great for collaboration between the team, it’s also important for details that may have been missed in the report between shift to shift and nurse to nurse, as well as legally. Like we all had drilled in our heads in nursing school – “If it wasn’t charted, it wasn’t done!”
References:
American Association for the History of Nursing. (n.d.). Linda A Richards. Retrieved 11/16/20 from https://www.aahn.org/richardsLinks to an external site.
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