| This historical study was conducted to determine the usefulness of the past in understanding the present. It follows the growth of modern nursing from the Crimean War and Florence Nightingale to the present day. Special emphasis is placed on the teaching of nursing. An almost parallel temporal growth is followed from the creation of the religious nursing order that is now the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis. The historical paths merge when the technological advances of the late nine-teenth and the twentieth century forces the order to start a formal nursing education program in 1901. The account is a story about the experiences of ordinary people within the social context, such as prevailing social values, meaning of work, economics, trials, difficulties and joys during a particular period of time. It also brings to light the many problems with which nursing has struggled in the past and is still struggling today, including the educational confusion which has been caused by social and scientific changes. The study follows nursing education as nursing emerges as a profession. Emphasis is placed upon the emerging curriculum as required by professional and govern'mental agencies.;The study also looks at nursing demands placed upon the Order by its expanding network of hospitals. Initially, sister nurses were trained on the job. In 1901, the Order started its first school of nursing. Students in the schools of nursing were used as the hospital's nursing staff. Demands were made by technological advances and governmental agencies for a more formal education. These demands were met by the creation of five hospital-based three year schools which granted a diploma in nursing, enabling the graduates to become registered nurses (R.N.) by taking the state licensure examination. The two World Wars created a demand for nurses, and this study examines the effect of federal programs on the Order's schools. Information and data was collected by researching the archives of the Community. Further data was obtained through the archives of the Catholic Dioceses of Peoria and Rockford, Illinois; the historical holdings of public and Catholic newspapers of Peoria, Rockford, Keokuk, Iowa and Marquette Michigan; public and private libraries of Peoria and Rockford and the Historical Societies of these two cities.;Findings of the research are related in an historical context and close with a discussion of the sisters' response to the movement within the nursing profession to require the baccalaureate degree as the entry level to professional nursing. The steps taken to receive both governmental and academic recognition for the baccalaureate degrees in nursing to be granted by the two remaining schools operated by the Order is set forth in some detail. |
