 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Brief History of Nursing in Texas |
|
|
|
by
Janet Kay McConnell, R.N., C.P.N.P. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The first known trained nurse emigrated to Texas in 1890 when young Ella Goldwaite returned to Galveston, Texas from a consultation in New York.. Miss Dorthea Fick, a graduate of Mt. Sinai Hospital Training School accompanied the girl as her personal nurse. Ella was the neice of John and Rebecca Sealy who endowed a School for Nurses at the recently opened John Sealy Hospital. This hospital was endowed by the Sealy family. John Sealy Hospital then became the teaching center for the Medical Branch of The University of Texas. The Medical School opened in 1890, but had only orderlies and untrained aides to care for patients. The physicians at the new school insisted that a hosptial, to be carried on in anything like a scientific manner, must have a properly equiped training school and a corp of trained nurses.to care appropriately for patients. Miss Dorthea Fick was appointed by the Sealy family to the school and was hired to open and direct the new school for nurses in the Nightingale tradition. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
The first decade of the twentieth century was an important one for nursing in Tezxas. The first laws regarding registration of nurses were enacted in 1909 and the Texas Graduate Nurses Association aligned itself with the national nursing association in an effort to provide protection for the public and obtain consistent professional standards of care.D;uring the ensuing century, several more schools of nursing opened, many of which were associated with hospitals. Nurses in Texas were first tested during the 1918 influenza epidemic and carried on heroicl while several of their own perished while caring for victims of this national tragedy.yWith the sudden growth in the need for nursing care during periods of worldwide conflict, these nurses filled a void in the care and rehabilitation of military personnel. As a consequent of this need, schools continued to proliferate in Texas The schools intent was to fill the nursing void, as well as increase the skill and knowledge base of their graduates. Therefore Texas nursing schools,as well as those throughout the country, became more knowledge based and tended to be associated with teaching hospitals and university medical centers. Baccaulaureate programs began to open wider horizons for graduates as did the institution of master's level preparation for advanced nursing roles in the state.
Between 1967 and 1976, The University of Texas (System-Wide) grew from two campuses at Austin and Galveston to include five more campuses. When the System-Wide school was disolved in 1976, the schools were placed under the auspices of the university where they were located Thus , the schools became instead a total of seven university based progams prepared to offer students and patients the best nursing care and knowledge available. Several other universitys and colleges continued to proliferate programs to meet the ever increasing need for well trained nurses, including Baylor, Texas Women's University, Texas Christian University and others.
Texas has been at the forefront of nursing education, theory and practice since Miss Fick's arrival at Galveston and continues to prepare nurses for the ever changing and constantly elevating roles in health care today. |
|
|
|
Historical links: |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
American Association for the History of Nursing
Moody Medical Library Historical Collection
History of Nursing at Internurse.
University of Texas School of Nursing Historical Collection |
|
|
|
|
|
This site is intended for students and professionals interested in the history of nursing in Texas.This is by no means a comprehensive treatise. Many more comprehensive sources are available for perusal.
Submitted in partial fulfillment fof the requirements for Nursing 5308 at the University of Texas at Arlington.
8 October 2002 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|