Nursing History Links
Learning from the past helps us to gage our progress and inform others about the importance of and unique position of the nursing profession. Nursing has been a part of every community, large or small in some capacity since humanity began. It is at it’s heart, caring for one another. We knew to clean a wound, stabilize a break, keep a sick person quiet and warm. And we learned more with every experience what worked and what did not. Eventually, the nursing profession became what we know now as an integral part of healthcare and wellbeing.
Nursing History Links and Museums
Florence Nightingale Museum
The Florence Nightingale Museum is located at St. Thomas Hospital in London, UK. Celebrating the life of Florence Nightingale, the museum highlights her pioneering vision of modern nursing. Artifacts include items belonging to Nightingale or items that she had gifted to nurses that had trained at the Nightingale Training School. The collection was started by Dame Alicia Lloyd-Still during her time as Matron of St Thomas’ Hospital in 1913-1937.
The American Association for the History of Nursing (AAHN)
The AAHN is a professional organization open to everyone interested in the history of nursing. The purpose of the Association is to foster the importance of history as relevant to understanding the past, defining the present, and influencing the future of nursing.
Website: https://www.aahn.org/
Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing
The Bates Center is steward to one of the largest collections documents and images in the country. The library contains over 3500 books, and other printed materials. Physical items can be viewed by appointment during normal visiting hours. Penn Libraries houses their comprehensive Colenda Digital Library.
Nurse Honor Guard
The Nurse Honor Guard recognizes nurses who died at their funerals or memorial services. Compared to a military tribute, the ceremony releases nurses from their nursing duties (Final Call to duty). Nurses of the Guard wear what was traditional dress: white uniforms, capes, and caps. Read the article by Zane Wolf right here on our own site.
Website: https://nursinghistory.org/
Living History Museum (University of Maryland School of Nursing)
Established in 1999, the Living History Museum collections include wartime letters and photos collected by nurses serving in the military, early 20th century textbooks and medical equipment, video and audio recordings of nurses telling their stories.
New Zealand Nursing Education and Research Foundation
Online collection of New Zealand Nursing history presented in interviews with nurses nurses who trained during the 1950s and 1960s. These interviews captured everyday elements of the nursing practice along with unique and personal experiences. The close friendships formed during training and ‘grunt work’ were often mentioned during the interviews. Visit the archives page for abstracts, audio clips and photos.
Website: https://nursinghistory.org.nz
Medical Museums
Medical museums have played an important role in the development of modern medicine. Most medical museums began as a place to keep medical specimens and equipment used for teaching students. They evolved throughout the history of medicine to become stewards of major medical collections that include rare artifacts, impeccably preserved specimens, primitive and modern equipment, rare manuscripts and photographs.
Museum of the Order of St. John
The museum offers a fascinating history of the ancient religious military order known as the Hospitallers. Welcoming visitors for over a hundred years, it’s collection includes over 60,000 items that include paintings, illuminated manuscripts, rare armour, decorative furniture, ceramics, silverware and textiles. It has a Church Cloister Garden featuring herbs from medieval medicinal gardens that would have been grown by the Knights Hospitaller. The museum offers guided tours visiting historic rooms, church and crypt as well. The Order of St John is not only a museum, it is a major international charity providing first aid, health care and support services in over 40 countries around the world.
Website: https://museumstjohn.org.uk/
Bart’s Pathology Museum, London (Queen Mary University of London)
Bart’s Pathology Museum is primarily a medical school museum housing over 4000 medical specimens on display, an additional 1000 in storage and 800 dedicated to anatomy teaching. The collection was formed from the 1995 merger of The London Hospital Medical College and St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College.
Among the many interesting specimens is a hernia preserved in 1750 and the skull of John Bellingham (interesting story).
Mütter Museum
The Mütter Museum is home to beautifully preserved collections of anatomical specimens, models, and medical instruments. The museum has an education program introducing middle and high school students to the history of medicine and careers in the medical field.
Website: https://muttermuseum.org/
IGM Institute for the History of Medicine
The Institute for the History of Medicine (IGM) is part of the Bosch Health Campus which was founded by the Robert Bosch Foundation in 2022.
The IGM Library includes publications and books covering a wide range of topics including the history of homeopathy, the history of medicine and nursing.
Museum of Military Medicine
Located in Surrey, the museum tells the stories of the men and women serving in the Army Medical Services. Galleries include the RAMC Apprentice School, the Army Medical Corps history, History of the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, and more. The museum is children friendly with fun and engaging programs.
Surgeons Hall Museums
Evolving from The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh’s 500-year-old history, SMH includes The Wohl Pathology Museum, The History of Surgery Museum, The Dental Collection and Body Voyager. The museum also ha a lot of events including a surgical jellybean challenge, skeleton reconstruction and the Blood and Guts medical history walking tour.
Berlin Museum of Medical History
The Berlin Museum of Medical History is a public museum highlighting the last 4 centuries of medicine. Collections include specimens, medical and dental equipment, moulages ( the art of applying mock injuries, wounds, or other medical conditions to a person, body part, or manikin for the purpose of training), Ophthalmology materials, and rare manuscripts.
Link: https://bmm-charite.de/