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Nursing timeline

  • nursing school

    nursing school
    By the turn of the century, there are over 400 hospital-based nursing schools in the U.S. There is no standardization: programs range from six months to two years in length and each hospital sets its own curriculum and requirements. These schools exist primarily to staff the hospitals that operate them.
  • nursing degree

    nursing degree
    The University of Minnesota School for Nurses becomes the first university-based nurse training program. It awards a baccalaureate degree to students that complete a three-year program.
  • American Nurses Association

    American Nurses Association
    The Nurses Associated Alumnae changed its name to the American Nurses Association in 1911 and now represents registered nurses throughout the country.
  • Standards

    Standards
    A study known as the Goldman Report concludes that nurses should ideally be educated in a university setting, according to academic standards.
  • Yale Nursing School was founded

    Yale Nursing School was founded
    The first independent nursing school in the United States, Yale Nursing School accepted women into its program.
  • National Nurse Week

    National Nurse Week
    was observed from October 11 - 16. The year of the observance marked the 100th anniversary of Florence Nightingale's mission to Crimea. Representative Frances P. Bolton sponsored the bill for a nurse week. Apparently, a bill for a National Nurse Week was introduced in the 1955 Congress, but no action was taken
  • The first hospice program was created in the United States

    The first hospice program was created in the United States
    Florence Wald was interested in nursing after spending a great deal of time in a hospital as a child because of a respiratory illness. She worked as a nurse, professor and researcher throughout her career.
  • New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne

    New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne
    declared May 6 as "Nurses Day." Edward Scanlan, of Red Bank, N.J., took up the cause to perpetuate the recognition of nurses in his state.
  • The ANA Board of Directors

    The ANA Board of Directors
    expanded the recognition of nurses to a week-long celebration, declaring May 6 - 12, 1991, as National Nurses Week.
  • The first registered nurse is elected to the United States Congress

    The first registered nurse is elected to the United States Congress
    Eddie Bernice Johnson did not begin her career expecting to go into politics. Johnson first earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing and then went on to obtain a Master of Public Administration.