# data[].attributes.body
As early as the Bible times, women have been mentioned in ways of nurturing and caring for others.  History does not lend much information to how the beginnings of the nursing profession came to be, but the Latin translation of "nurse" can give a hint to its origin. "Nutrix/Nutrire" translates to "to nurse, suckle from a breast; wet-nurse". While we still use the term "nurse" in relation to breastfeeding, this translation speaks to the earliest recordings. As early as the times of Moses, wet-nurses are recorded as a profession.
"If a mother was not able or willing to feed her own child, whether due to illness, separation, death, or through lactation insufficiency or failure, the socially accepted and biologically-driven means of feeding these infants and children was through another woman’s milk. For millennia that feeding usually occurred through feeding directly at the breast, whether by an aunt, a grandmother, a friend, or another unrelated lactating or relactating woman in the community who gave of herself purely for altruistic reasons, driven by a basic need for species survival. As early as 2000 BCE the concept of a woman who provided her milk in this manner, as her paid profession, can be found in the historical record" (Marinelli, K., 2020).

# data[].attributes.body
It wasn't until the 16th Century when Catholic nuns and some monks in parts of Europe began facilities that would care for the sick or injured, much like a hospital. The church taught that it was the responsibility to care for those with such needs.  The nuns and monks had a limited knowledge of anatomy, but could treat symptoms.
While the Protestant Reformation in parts Europe pushed for regulations on public health, closing down hospitals until the opening of the Deaconess Hospital, in the late 1800s. (McNeill et al., 2018)

# data[].attributes.headline
Deaconess Institution and Hospital at Kaiserswerth

# data[].attributes.subject
Deaconess Institution and Hospital at Kaiserswerth

# data[].attributes.body
The Deaconess Institution and Hospital in Kaiserswerth, Germany was the first place where nurses received education.  This training facility for young women and was by a young Protestant minister, Pastor Theodor Fliedner and his wife Friederik in 1836. The training that the young women received were to care for poor adults and children who were sick and in desperate need.
The "Deaconess" idea of unmarried women, creating a "sisterhood" working as support of the sacred community, was rooted in charity and mercy (Our History Began in 1867 | Deaconess Foundation, 2021).

# data[].attributes.body
Even if you are not a nurse, you have heard the name "Florence Nightingale". Born to a wealthy, educated, English family in Florence, Italy on May 12, 1820, Florence had the beginnings of a Victorian socialite. At the age of 17, in 1837, Nightingale felt a "higher calling" than her education and wealthy status.  Her family tried many attempts to dissuade her course, but at the age of 31, Florence Nightingale traveled to Kaiserwerth, Germany to attend a 3-month course to become a nurse.
Her story continues to changing the course of nursing during the Crimean War at age 34, and setting a precedence for the care of patients for centuries to come (Matthews et al., 2020).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Florence Nightingale: Changing the Field of Nursing - Fast Facts | History

# data[].attributes.headline
Formation of the International Council of Nurses - 1899

# data[].attributes.subject
Formation of the International Council of Nurses - 1899

# data[].attributes.body
(audio clip attached)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On 1 July 1899, at the Annual Conference of the Matron's Council of Britain and Ireland in London, I proposed the foundation of the International Council of Nurses.

"The nursing profession, above all things at present, requires organisation: nurses, above all other things at present, require to be united. The value of their work to the sick is acknowledged at the present day by the Government of this and all other civilised countries but it depends upon nurses individually and collectively to make their work of the utmost possible usefulness to the sick. To secure these results two things are essential: that there should be recognised systems of nursing education and of control over the nursing profession. The experience of the past has proved that these results can never be obtained by any profession unless it is united in its demands for the necessary reform, and by union alone can the necessary strength be obtained.

"My suggestion, briefly, is therefore that we should here and today inaugurate an International Council of Nurses, composed of representatives of the nursing councils of every country, a body which shall, in the first place, help to build up nurses councils in countries which do not now possess any nursing organisation at all , which shall afford to those countries the information acquired in England and America in the progress and development of our work, aiding them with our experience, helping them to avoid the difficulties which we have met."

Annual Conference of the Matron's Council of Britain and Ireland, London

- Ethel Bedford Fenwick, ICN President, 1900-1904

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Twelve Decades of the International Council of Nurses

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On 1 July 1899, at the Annual Conference of the Matron's Council of Britain and Ireland in London, I proposed the foundation of the International Council of Nurses. "The nursing profession, above all things at present, requires organisation: nurses, above all other things at present, require to be united.

# data[].attributes.headline
The First International Conference - September 16, 1901 

# data[].attributes.subject
The First International Conference - September 16, 1901 

# data[].attributes.body
On 17 September 1901, a public meeting of ICN was held in a large hall of the Women’s Educational Union and chaired by Ethel Gordon Fenwick, President. Representatives were present from Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the United States.
"For the first time, official delegates from national nursing associations (NNAs) attended the Congress, not as individuals but representatives of NNAs. These nurses came together because of the lack of nursing education standards, exploitation of nursing students as cheap labour, deplorable work conditions and the need for statutory registration and in the belief that their strength would come with unity" (Breay M. & Gordon Fenwick E., 1931).

# data[].attributes.headline
1903 - The First Registered Nurse in the United States

# data[].attributes.subject
1903 - The First Registered Nurse in the United States

# data[].attributes.body
In the beginning of March, 1903, North Carolina became the first state to pass legislation regarding nurse licensing. The law established a "Board of Nurse Examiners of Trained Nurses" to test and issue certificates to new nurses and determined criteria for those already practicing nursing. This criteria had to be met by producing a diploma from a “reputable” training school for nurses, a certificate of attendance for at least 2 years at a “reputable” training school, or a certificate signed by at least 3 registered physicians stating that the applicant has practiced nursing competently for at least 2 years.  Those who wished to have their names placed in the "Registry of Graduate Nurses" was to apply to each county’s Clerk of Courts office. To have one’s name in the county Registry guaranteed the public that the nurse had achieved a high level of education and proficiency in the practice of nursing (Timeline of Legislative Accomplishments, 2022).
1903 Josephine (Burton) Bradham from North Carolina was the first Registered Nurse in the United States.

# data[].attributes.headline
Extra Interesting Resource: A History of Nursing, written in 1907

# data[].attributes.subject
Extra Interesting Resource: A History of Nursing, written in 1907

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_Nursing/NktKAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=kaiserswerth%20deaconess%20institute&pg=PP1&printsec=frontcover

# data[].attributes.body
In the year 1909, the third ICN was based in the discussion of the nurse's importance of formal education, the scope of practice, and the effects on health in the community.  Two of the ICN leaders at the time, Lavinia Dock and Ethel Gordon Fenwick clarified the intent and purpose of the ICN.
Lavinia Dock stated, “The essential idea for which the ICN stands is self-government of nurses in their associations with the aim of raising ever higher the standards of education and professional ethics, public usefulness, and civic spirit of the members. The ICN does not stand for a narrow professionalism but for that full development of the human being and citizen in every nurse, which shall but enable her to bring her professional knowledge and skill to the many sided services that modern society demands of her.” (Arnold 1974).
Gordon Fenwick also saying, “The practice of nursing in the future will not be restricted to a few years mechanical training in hospitals and, subsequently, to a more or less narrow sphere of influence, but under a more comprehensive curriculum defined by state authority, it will attain a definite value to the community. So much of the moral welfare of the people depends on sanitary conditions that a nurse who grasps her opportunities should find herself in intimate touch with her fellow creatures. It is not sufficient that she should be the instrument for the relief of suffering; she must also be the harbinger of its prevention.’ (Arnold 1974).

# data[].attributes.headline
The History of State Board Examinations Beginning in 1913

# data[].attributes.subject
The History of State Board Examinations Beginning in 1913

# data[].attributes.body
The first state board examinations began in 1913. The first licensing examinations were often both written and a demonstration of skills which included the performance of a nursing procedure. State board licensure examinations changed from essay to more ‘‘objective-type’’ exams in the early 1930s. Methods used for grading essays and objective-type examinations were intense, therefore, it took many weeks to receive a nursing license from a state board.

Each state board of nursing created their own examination at this time.
The onset of World War II increased the need for more trained nurses. At a 1942 conference of state boards of nurse examiners, the National League of Nursing Education’s (NLNE’s) National Committee on Nursing Tests agreed to operate a state board test pool to facilitate efficient licensure of nurses.
By 1950, all forty-eight states and the District of Columbia were using the State Board Test Pool Examination; nursing therefore, became the first, and at that time, the only profession in which all states cooperated in the development and use of a uniform examination for determining the qualifications of applicants to practice the profession.
In 1975 examinations were given twice a year on the same date in every state (The History of Nurse Practice Acts | ATrain Education, 2022).

# data[].attributes.headline
Explanation of the Nurse Licensure Compact for Nurses

# data[].attributes.subject
Explanation of the Nurse Licensure Compact for Nurses

# data[].attributes.body
Since the establishment of regulatory bodies for each state, the National Council of State Board of Nursing has managed the organization and oversight of the issuance of licensure for registered and practical nurses. Today, the process is much the same as it was in the beginning - pass an Accredited Program, apply for your attestation to test, pass the examination, and then you can be issued a license to practice in your state. The NCSBN continues to monitor the licensure of each nurse and compliance with laws and safe practice.
https://www.ncsbn.org/licensure.htm

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) develops the NCLEX exam to test the competency of nursing school graduates in the U.S. and Canada.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Timeline Reference Page - Melissa Howell