A History of Nursing explores the history of nursing by investigating the earliest records of the caring profession, how it progressed and what established it along the way to becoming the nursing we see today. It starts at the beginning of the story – how, once upon a time, all we had to depend on was Mother Nature.

Over time, education and standards improved for the safety, development and governance of the profession. Not everything was plain sailing and the book introduces lesser-known people who made this possible, sometimes at great cost to themselves, and the effect military nursing had on the nineteenth century in turning nursing from religious principles to the secular nursing we see today.

How did nursing go from being knowledge handed down through ancient scripts, folklore and sometimes by accident, to the degree-level, accountable practice of modern times? And why do nurses not wear hats anymore? A History of Nursing answers these questions and more.

•  Written by a serving nurse and published historian
• Illustrated throughout with rarely seen and previously unpublished images
• An important look at a vital service often taken for granted