Nursing practices during the Civil War advanced the cause of professional nursing. The move toward formal education and training was supported by (Select all that apply.)

Question

a. endorsement by the Catholic nursing orders (Sisters of Charity, Sisters of Mercy, and Sisters of the Holy Cross).
b. a proposal by Dr. Samuel Gross in 1869 that large hospitals develop training schools for nurses.
c. reports of inadequate conditions in hospitals reported by social reformers after the Civil War.
d. lobbying by the United States Sanitary Commission for the creation of nursing schools.
e. the appointment of Dorothea Dix as Superintendent of Women Nurses of the (Union) Army.

Answer 1

ANS: B, C, D, E

Correct
The proposal by Dr. Samuel Gross in 1869 that large hospitals develop training schools for nurses; reports of inadequate conditions in hospitals reported by social reformers after the Civil War; and lobbying by the United States Sanitary Commission for the creation of nursing schools all led toward formal education and training for nursing practices. Support for the development of schools to train nurses was given by physicians who had observed the difference training made in hospitals during the war, as well as by the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Social reformation that started before the Civil War identified the shocking conditions in hospitals. Dorothea Dix created a month-long training program for women who wished to serve as nurses in the Civil War.
Incorrect
"Endorsement by the Catholic nursing orders (Sisters of Charity, Sisters of Mercy, and Sisters of the Holy Cross)" is incorrect because, although the Catholic nursing orders provided significant organized nursing care during the war, even they did not develop formal education programs until later.