Histrocial Aspect Of Nursing - Portrayal Of Nurses - Essay Writing -Assessment Answer

Histrocial Aspect Of Nursing Assignment

Assignment Task

Introduction

Care for sick until the nineteenth century was the sole responsibility of the person’s relatives, self-appointed attendants or members of various religious orders. During this era, nursing was not recognised as a profession and the concept of uniforms did not exist. Origin of nursing as a profession first came into being in mid-1800’s when Florence Nightingale took the first pioneering measures. Back in those days, nursing uniforms were highly inspired by Nightingale’s attire and have evolved tremendously since then. For this reason, this historical aspect of nursing is being focused on in this document. The paper would serve to trace evolution of nursing uniforms form the day they came into existence till today.

Nursing uniforms in Australia were not even introduced before the year 1870 as this is when a batch of newly trained nurses in England arrived and started in Adelaide. During this era, nurses were viewed more as a domestic servant responsible for bedding and cleaning (Hardy & Corones, 2016). In line with requirements of their role, they wore a full length skirt with an apron and white bib over their skirts. They also had to wear a long white cap to cover their heads (Bingham & McEwen, 2015).

New uniform standards (based on and inspired by British uniform designs) were introduced in nursing after Matron Thackthwaite became a part of Adelaide nursing staff around 1890. Different style of caps and long streamers were introduced so as to differentiate Matrons from senior nursing staff. A different uniform was also introduced for trainee nurses who wore a plain black dress during their probation period (Rezaei-Adaryani et al, 2012). Student nurses at Adelaide Hospital wore a fine red and white check in their uniform material. Senior nurses and matrons on the other hand wore dark coloured cotton material in their uniform dresses. Uniforms in this era however still comprised of long skirts, full length blouses with cuffs and collars and a cap (Bingham & McEwen, 2015).

Another (however only subtle) change in nursing uniforms came in the early 20^thcentury when trained nurse’s cap was replaced by a ‘coal scuttle’. A coal scuttle can be better described as turned back brim which needed to be tied under the chin (Bingham & McEwen, 2015). Various nurse training schools were also established during this era and pink (RAH), blue (ACH) or mauve (QEH) colours were utilised so as to distinguish student nurses from different institutions. These changed caps were still worn with full length blouses (with cuffs and collars) and a long skirt with an apron on top of it. Most trainee nurses also wore black shoes along with stockings (Hardy & Corones, 2016).

Towards the mind-1950’s, individual hospitals started negotiating and entering into different contracts regarding styles and colours of uniform for their staff members. However, sleeve lengths and hem did not change before 1970’s (Bingham & McEwen, 2015). Trained matrons from that era often complained that lack of change could be attributed to limited financial resources. Trained nurses finally took initiative of change and ‘fawns’ in nursing uniforms were replaced by a white uniform (Rezaei-Adaryani et al, 2012). Late 1970’s also saw collars, aprons and cuffs being slowly phased out. Material with which nursing uniforms were made was also changed during this era and ‘Koroton’ (a synthetic fiber) was adopted. Uniforms constructed from this material were baked in ovens before they were finally distributed so as to ensure that they were water resistant (Hardy & Corones, 2016). The cap disappeared and coloured buttons were introduced as a measure of identifying seniority. Male nurses were introduced in the profession in the 1960’s and started out by wearing “Ben Casey” shirts with a white trouser. Their level of seniority was identified with the help of chevrons worn on their left sleeve (Rezaei-Adaryani et al, 2012).

With the onset of 21^stcentury, much simpler uniform designs were constructed and consisted of a mid-length skirt and a coloured blouse. These uniforms closely resembled uniforms worn by office staff (Bingham & McEwen, 2015).

Finally, towards the middle of 21^stcentury, male nurses in the profession started wearing scrubs. This trend was slowly adopted by their female counterparts and defines the professional nursing uniform standards of the current day (Hardy & Corones, 2016).

In summary, it might be suggested that uniforms of nursing professionals have undergone many changes from the day they were introduced in practice. Evolution of uniforms can be clearly seen from them being inspired by the outfits of domestic servants in the beginning to being unique and suitable to the profession by mid-21^stcentury. The aspect of nursing has therefore transformed itself well throughout history.