Johns Hopkins’ Legacy for Nursing Education

~This post courtesy of Phoebe Evans Letocha, Collections Management Archivist, Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.

As 2016 comes to a close, we gather to honor the life and legacy of Mr. Johns Hopkins on this 143rd anniversary of his death. Let us pay special attention to his legacy for nursing education.

1873, the year of Mr. Hopkins’ death, was also a momentous year for the birth of professional nursing in America.

On March 10, 1873, Johns Hopkins instructed his trustees, “I desire you to establish, in connection with the hospital, a training school for female nurses. This provision will secure the services of women competent to care for the sick in the hospital wards, and will enable you to benefit the whole community by supplying it with a class of trained and experienced nurses.” Continue reading