The wellbeing of nursing staff will be the focus of the 2025 International Nurses Day (IND), those behind the initiative have revealed.IND is celebrated each year on 12 May, which this year would have been Florence Nightingale’s 205th birthday, and is used to celebrate the nursing profession and raise awareness about the greatest challenges nurses around the world are facing.

"By prioritising the wellbeing of nurses, we are ensuring that they can continue to provide the high-quality care that is critical to the health of our communities" Pamela Cipriano (Nursing Times)

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A Brief Timeline

 

1800

1796Smallpox vaccine discovered by Edward Jenner

1816Rene Laennec invented stethoscope

1818British obstetrician James Blundell performs first transfusion of human blood

1844Dr Horace Wells, American dentist, uses nitrous oxide as an anesthetic

1850

1854Florence Nightingale goes to Turkey to lead a team of nurses caring for soldiers in the Crimean War

1855Mary Seacole establishes the British Hotel, a convalescent home for soldiers in the Crimean War

1860Nightingale Training School opens at St Thomas’s Hospital in London. One of the first institutions to teach nursing and midwifery as a formal profession, the training school was dedicated to communicating the philosophy and practice of its founder and patron, Florence Nightingale

1867Antiseptic Principles of the Practice of Surgery published by Joseph Lister

1887British Nurses Association created; united nurses who sought professional registration

1899Felix Hoffman develops aspirin

1900

1900sMore hospitals establishing their own training schools for nurses; in exchange for lectures and clinical instruction, students provided the hospital with two or three years of skilled free nursing care

1908The first meeting of the National Council of Trained Nurses of Great Britain and Ireland was held in London

1914-18World War One; Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS) developed with 10,500 nurses enrolled

1916Royal College of Nursing founded with 34 members

1919Nurses Act established the first professional register help by the General Nursing Council

1922Insulin first used to treat diabetes

1928Scottish bacteriologist Sir Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin

1932Lancet Commission on Nursing explores how to make nursing more attractive to young women in order to deal with shortage of trainees

1937Bernard Fantus starts the first blood bank at Cook County Hospital in Chicago

1939-45World War Two; many nurses enrolled in QAIMNS again gaining officer status

1940The state enrolled nurse is formally recognised with two years of training

1943Microbiologist Selman A. Waksman discovers the antibiotic streptomycin, later used in the treatment of tuberculosis and other diseases

1948National Health Service offered free treatment for all at the point of care

1950

1951Male nurses were allowed to join the professional register

1952Paul Zoll develops the first cardiac pacemaker to control irregular heartbeat

1953James Watson and Francis Crick at Cambridge University describe the structure of the DNA molecule

1967Salmon Report proposes the development of nursing to include the management of hospitals

1967South African heart surgeon Dr Christiaan Barnard performs the first human heart transplant

1972Briggs Committee suggests a move to degree preparation of nurses and that practice be based on research

1978First test-tube baby is born in the U.K.

1983Griffiths Report establishes general management in the NHS, largely taking leadership away from nurses and doctors.

1983United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting sets up a new professional register with four branches (mental health, children, learning disability and adult) reflecting former types of training and qualifications: Registered General Nurse, Enrolled Nurse (General), Registered Mental Nurse, Enrolled Nurse (Mental), Registered Nurse for the Mentally Handicapped, Enrolled Nurse (Mental Handicap), Enrolled Nurse, Registered Sick Children’s Nurse, Fever Nurse, Registered Midwife and Registered Health Visitor.

1986Project 2000 sets out the move to diploma level nurse training based in colleges/ universities rather than hospital based schools

1996Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell

2000

2000First draft of human genome is announced; the finalized version is released three years later

2002Nurses are able to prescribe medication

2004RCN votes for degree only preparation

2008Nursing research demonstrated on the world stage

2009All nursing courses in UK become degree level

 

 

 

List of nursing organisations in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia

  • Anaemia Nurse Specialist Association (ANSA)[3]
  • Association of British Paediatric Nurses (ABPN) (1938-)[4]
  • Association Of Catholic Nurses England and Wales formerly Catholic Nurses Guild ( [5]
  • Association of Chief Children’s Nurses (ACCN) (c.1991-)[6]
  • Association of District Nurse and Community Nurse Educators (ADNE)[7]
  • Association of Genetic Nurses and Counsellors (AGNC)[8]
  • Association of Nephrology Nurses (UK) (ANN-UK) (2018-)[9]
  • Association of Respiratory Nurse Specialists (ARNS) (1997-)[10]
  • Association of South Asian Midwives (ASAM) (2019-)[11]
  • Association Of South African Nurses In The United Kingdom (ASANUK)[12]
  • Association of Spanish Nurses and Healthcare Workers Isabel Zenda (ASNH Isabel Zendal)(2021-)[13]
  • BACCN British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN)(1985-)[14]
  • British Adult Congenital Cardiac Nurse Association (BACCNA)(2007-)[15]
  • British Arab Nursing and Midwifery Association UK (BANMA)(2023-)[16]
  • British Association for Nursing in Cardiovascular Care (BANCC)(1999-)[17]
  • British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN) (1985-)[14]
  • British Association of Neuroscience Nurses (BANN) (1971-)[18]
  • British Association of Urological Nurses (BAUN) (1992-)[19]
  • British Dermatological Nursing Group (BDNG) (1989-)[20]
  • British Indian Nurses Association (BINA UK) (2020-)[21]
  • British Liver Nurses' Association (BLNA) (2017-)[22]
  • British Sikh Nurses (2016-)[23]
  • Burdett Trust for Nursing (BTFN) (2002-)[24]
  • Cameroon Nurses And Midwives Association UK (2005-)[25]
  • Caribbean Nurses and Midwives Association (UK) (CNMA) (2021-) [26]
  • Cavell Nurses' Trust (1917-) formerly known as NurseAid [27]
  • College of Nursing see Royal College of Nursing
  • Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Federation (CNMF) (1973-)[28]
  • Congenital Cardiac Nurses Association (CCNA) (previously called Paediatric Cardiac Nurses Association (PCNA)) (1991-)[29]
  • Critical Care National Network Nurse Leads Forum (CC3N)(2003-)[30]
  • Equality 4 Black Nurses (2020-)[31]

F-L

  • Filipino Nurses Association UK (FANUK)(2020-)[32]
  • Filipino UK Nurses Community (2020-)[33]
  • First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) (1907-)[34]
  • Florence Nightingale Fellowship (FNF) (1928-)[35]
  • Florence Nightingale Foundation (1934-)[36]
  • Florence Nightingale Museum (c.1982-)[37]
  • Foundation of European Nurses in Diabetes (FEND) (1995-) (registered in the UK)[38]
  • Foundation of Nursing Studies (FoNS) (c.2011-)[39]
  • Genito-urinary Nurses Association (GUNA) (c.2006-c.2013)
  • Ghana Nurses Association (GNA) (1993-) in UK)[40]
  • Independent Federation of Nursing in Scotland (IFON-S) (1995-)[41]
  • International Family Nursing Association (IFNA) UK and Ireland Chapter (2017-) [42]
  • International Ophthalmic Nurses Association (IONA)(c.2018-)[43] primarily active in the UK
  • International Network of Spinal Cord Injury Nurses [founded and run by UK nurses][44]
  • Kenyan Nurses And Midwives Association UK (KENMA UK)(2021-)[45]
  • King's College Hospital Nurses' League (1924-)[46]
  • London Network of Nurses and Midwives Homelessness Group (LNNM) (1996-)[47]
  • Lung Cancer Nursing UK (LCNUK formerly NLCFN) (1999-)[48]

M-S

T-Z

  • Tibetan Nurses Group UK[76]
  • Uganda Nurses and Midwives Association UK (UNMA-UK) (2020-)[77]
  • Union of UK Malayalee Associations (UUKMA) Nurses Forum (2009-)
  • United Kingdom Association for the History of Nursing (UKAHN) (c.2000-) [78]
  • United Kingdom Association of Forensic Nurses & Paramedics (UKAFN) (2004-) [79]
  • United Kingdom Critical Care Nursing Alliance (UKCCNA) (2013-) [80]
  • United Kingdom Oncology Nursing Society (UKONS) (2005-) [81]
  • WeCommunity (aka We Nurses) (2012-) [82]
  • Windrush Nurses and Beyond Foundation (2011-) [83]
  • Worshipful Company of Nurses, The (2016-)[84]
  • Zimbabwean Midwifery & Nurses Association (ZiMNA-UK) (c.2021-) [85]

 

ARTICLES: HISTORY OF NURSING  -   All articles are available here: Articles of the History of Nursing .docx 

Thompson DR, Quinn T: A brief history of British cardiac nursing and achievements. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing 2022, 17(7):1-5. 10.12968/bjca.2022.0065.

 

Price-Dowd C: The changing face of nursing: from the pioneers to the future of leadership. British Journal of Nursing 2018, 27(13):776-777. 10.12968/bjon.2018.27.13.776.

 

Thomas BG, Rosser E: Responsibility, research and reasoning: nursing through 70 years of the NHS. British Journal of Nursing 2018, 27(13):784-786. 10.12968/bjon.2018.27.13.784.

 

The way we were…. British journal of nursing. 10.12968/bjon.2018.27.13.780. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29995524

 

Clarke S: The History of Children’s Nursing and Its Direction Within the United Kingdom. Comprehensive Child & Adolescent Nursing 2017, 40(3):200-214. 10.1080/24694193.2017.1316790.

 

Thomas GN, Gail T, Eileen R, Eileen R: Memories of Nursing: nurses' social status and origins of the RNNH. British journal of nursing 2017. 10.12968/bjon.2017.26.1.26. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28079418.

 

Thomas GN, Gail T, Eileen R, Eileen R: Memories of Nursing: a timeline of the profession PART TWO. British journal of nursing 2016. 10.12968/bjon.2016.25.19.1072. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27792432.

 

Thomas GN, Gail T, Eileen R, Eileen R: Memories of Nursing: an oral history. British journal of nursing 2016. 10.12968/bjon.2016.25.16.930. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27615530

 

Elizabeth R, Elizabeth R: Nursing history: from conformity to challenging practice. British journal of nursing 2016. 10.12968/bjon.2016.25.22.1270. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27935342

 

Graham S: The legacy of nursing through the Troubles. Nursing Standard 2013. 10.7748/ns2013.09.28.3.1.s1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24044809.

 

Celebrating 150 years of public health nursing. Community Practitioner 2012, 85(11):16-18.

 

McDonald L: Florence Nightingale and the early origins of evidence-based nursing. Evid Based Nurs 2001, 4(3):68-69. 10.1136/ebn.4.3.68. https://ebn.bmj.com/content/4/3/68.long.

 

Deeny P, McFetridge B: Critical care nursing in Northern Ireland: a rich history with a future of opportunity. Intensive & Critical Care Nursing 2008, 24(3):143-149. 10.1016/j.iccn.2008.03.005.

 

Ly K: Before and after 1948. Community Practitioner 2008, 81(7):8-9.

 

Jolley J: Now and then. Always nurses. Paediatric Nursing 2007, 19(7):12-12. 10.7748/paed.19.7.12.s20.

 

Arthur V: Working conditions in nursing in the 1930s and 1940s. IHNJ: International History of Nursing Journal 2001, 6(2):83-86.

 

Carter M: The early days of orthopaedic nursing in the United Kingdom: Agnes Hunt and Baschurch...reprinted from Journal of Orthopaedic Nursing, 4(2), by Marie Carter, pp. 55-58, 2000, by permission of the publisher Churchill Livingstone. Orthopaedic Nursing 2000, 19(5):15-18. 10.1097/00006416-200019050-00004.

 

Webster C: Nursing and the early crisis of the NHS. IHNJ: International History of Nursing Journal 1998, 3(3):36-43.

 

All articles are available here: Articles of the History of Nursing .docx