The History of RN Training

In the past, nurses were usually trained as apprentices, and often in religious settings, such as convents. Florence Nightingale, perhaps one of the most famous nurses, set up the first nurse training school in London, at St. Thomas's Hospital, in 1860.

Other nurses, namely Ethel Bedford-Fenwick, piloted the movement to require licensing for nurses and to shift nursing training from the hospital to the university. In the United States, nursing training has almost always been housed in universities, as it is currently.

Recently, a nursing shortage has made nursing a lucrative and flexible profession for those who are properly trained. More men are also entering nursing as a profession, though there has always been some contingent of male nurses, especially in psychiatric care facilities.