History of Nursing
In Russia before the X century.there were no professional nurses of mercy. Care for sick people, women in labor, children were carried out by women, most often nuns. Basically it consisted in the implementation of hygienic measures. In the X century. Princess Olga for the first time organized a hospital in Russia, where women were specially cared for by the patients, they provided assistance free of charge. And only at the beginning of the XVII century.in Russia, the first hospital was organized on the territory of the Troitsko-Sergievsky Monastery, and in 1618 the first hospital was established there. The second one appeared on the territory of St. Andrew's Monastery in 1650. In these hospitals, women's labor was used to care for people in need and sick people. Women again did not have special skills. In 1715, according to the decree of Peter I, educational homes were established, where the main role for the care of patients was also to be performed by women. More often than not, the wounded soldiers needed the care, the woman was difficult to cope with the physical load, so the role of nurses became performed by retired soldiers.
Female labor in hospitals again began to be used in the middle of the XVIII century. The care was carried out by the so-called witches' women, the widows and wives of the soldiers. Nursing in Russia arose in 1803, since it was from this time on that the nurses began to teach specially. In 1818, the Institute of Compassionate Widows was established. In hospitals, special courses were opened for the training of nursing sisters.
The first training manual for nurses was Opel's textbook, printed in 1822. The first community of nurses was established in 1844 at the Holy Trinity Monastery, and in 1847 the first graduation took place. The title of nurses received 10 women. When the Crimean War began in 1853, Russia received a large number of sisters of mercy in order to care for the wounded soldiers. Then the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna organized the Cross Exaltation of the Sisters of Mercy. Together with the great surgeon Pirogov she provided care for the wounded directly to the battlefield. For the work of the sisters of mercy Krestovozdvizhenskoy community Pirogov created an instruction.
In the Crimean War, the nurse Ekaterina Bakunina became famous. She was born in a wealthy aristocratic family, but gave her life to the sick and needy: she worked as a nurse in the infirmary, took part on a par with Pirogov in complex surgical operations. Bakunin personally accompanied the wounded when transported to hospitals. This woman proved to be a talented organizer. During the transportation of the patients, thanks to Bakunin's initiative, they began to organize an overnight stay, to feed the wounded with hot food. After the war, Bakunin created a hospital for peasants in Tver province. She is considered the founder of rural medicine.
160 sisters of mercy participated in the Crimean War, 17 of them died on the battlefield. Pirogov positively assessed the activities of nurses in the campaign: "The sisters are not blind performers of the orders of a person who has just entered the medical field."
The founding father of nursing in the world is the English nurse Florence Nightingale. Her follower is Virginia Henderson. V. Henderson - the first nurse who formulated the theory of nursing, where she outlined the basic principles of care for patients, including surgical ones. Following the theory of V. Henderson, many theories on nursing were created, but all of them were based on her practical activities and theoretical generalizations.
In 1876 an International Committee of the Red Cross appeared in Switzerland. The symbol of the organization was a red cross on a white coat.
The leading role in the care of the wounded and sick of the Red Army during the Civil War belongs precisely to the nurses. Before 1917, about 10,000 sisters had helped the sick in Russia. In August 1917, the first All-Russian Congress of Sisters of Mercy took place in Moscow. On it, the All-Russian Society of Sisters was created.
An important role in caring for the wounded belongs to the nurses who participated in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.It was thanks to them that a huge number of soldiers survived.46 nurses after the Great Patriotic War were awarded the medal named Florence Nightingale. In 1942, the first professional journal, The Nurse, was published.
In the mid-1950's.medical schools are opened for special training of paramedical personnel. A nurse was seen as an assistant doctor working under the direct supervision of a doctor, performing all of his appointments and not challenging them. In 1983, the first All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference was organized and held, the main theme of which was the theory of nursing. In 1994, the Association of Nurses of Russia appeared in Russia, which actively cooperates with the International Council of Sisters. A nurse is seen as a specialist with a medical background who works under the guidance of a doctor. In 1994, for the first time, the basic principles of nursing were written, where terms were discussed and formulated: "nursing process", "sister diagnosis", "sister's medical history".In 1995 in Russia for the first time the faculty of higher nursing education was opened at the Moscow Medical Academy. I. M. Sechenov.