Saga – Evolution of Curriculum – Part 1

This episode of the NLN Nursing EDge Unscripted Saga track is part one of four exploring the evolution of curriculum. It explores the early evolution of nursing education in the United States from 1893 to 1900. Drawing from archival NLN convention proceedings, the episode highlights the visionary work of early nurse leaders who advocated for standardized curricula and professional training. It recounts the founding of the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses, which later became the National League for Nursing. Leaders like Isabel Hampton Robb and Mary Agnes Snively challenged physician-dominated models and called for reforms such as reducing nurses' work hours and extending training to three years.

Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the leading organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. Find past episodes of the NLN Nursing EDge podcast online. Get instant updates by following the NLN on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and YouTube. For more information, visit NLN.org.

Transcript

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Welcome to this episode of Nursing EDge Unscripted Saga where we journey through  the history of nursing education using stories that connect the past to the  present and then our future as we reimagine our teaching, learning, and scholarship.  It is often said that the past teaches us about the present to study history is to study change.  This year Saga gives voice to nursing through the words of our early nurse leaders who organized a  discipline in carved out systems to formalize the education of nurses throughout the United States.  In Their Own Words illuminates the visionary work of NLN pathfinders who question traditional  curriculum paradigms and in the process co-created standards for nursing education to build the  discipline of nursing. For the next two months, we will focus on the evolution of nursing education  in the establishment of curriculum standards and pedagogical excellence for nursing education's  early leader pathfinders. It is the story that belongs to the National League for Nursing,  a story about strong leaders who defied tradition in braved external opposition to co-create a  foundation for modern nursing education. This month we will focus on accomplishments to reform  nursing education and nursing curricula during the first decade of organized Nursing from 1893  to 1900. In the following month, our focus will be transformative accomplishments during the  early 20th century. To fully capture the spirit of this evolution, we will tell the story through  the words of nursing education's early leaders documented from the proceedings of NLN annual  conventions from 1893 to 1952. These publications are part of the NLN Archives collection currently  housed at the Bates Center for the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. And the story begins...first  training schools opened in America in 1873. By 1890 there were 35 schools and 1500 students.  The value of trained nurses caring for the sick was recognized by hospitals,  which welcomed the free labor of student nurses. But training schools were being opened without  consideration for standards even though they were loosely based on the Nightingale model. Curricula  lack rigor and consistency. The stage was set for the development of organized nursing education  at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. Ms. Isabel Hampton, superintendent of the Johns Hopkins  Training School in Baltimore, chaired a group of superintendents who set about laying the  foundation for a new association, the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools  for Nurses. This was the first association of nurses in the United States it would become the  National League of Nursing Education in 1912 and the National League for Nursing in 1952.  During the early years, the society faced opposition from physicians who objected to  nursing's growing self-governance. The belief, at the time, was that nursing did not require  formal training or education. By forming the Society, the superintendents collectively worked  to change that reality. They believed in power through organization and a collective vision.  As early as 1895, at the second annual convention, the focus of the proceedings was on curriculum  reform and the development of a uniform curriculum for training schools. This was revolutionary as a  superintendent sought to challenge decades of physician-controlled servitude-based training  where student nurses worked on average 14 hours a day with minimal instruction. Miss Mary Agnes  Snively, Superintendent of the Toronto General Hospital Training School, addressed the need for  educational reform and spoke passionately about the hypocrisy of nursing training. In her words: At the same convention, Isabel Hampton, now Mrs. Hampton Robb, presented the radical idea  that nursing training should be extended to three years from the traditional two years and  that student nurse daily practical work should be reduced to eight hours a day. In her words: These radical reformers had the foresight to challenge conventional beliefs about how women  work and are educated. They paved the way for standardization in nursing education.  In part two, we will explore the changes that occurred rapidly within the next decade.  And so the Saga continues and may our Saga continue as we bring  to a close this episode of Nursing EDge Unscripted Saga. Thank you for joining us