Historically-Informed Nursing: The Untapped Potential of History in Nursing Education

Abstract

For much of the 20th century, nursing history was a core component of nursing education. However, nursing history has all but disappeared from the curriculum. In an effort to prepare nurses for a rapidly evolving health care system, nursing educators emphasize the value of new, evidence-informed knowledge—specifically in the form of literature published within the previous 5 years. The focus on the “cutting edge” has effectively, if inadvertently, severed nursing from its roots. As a result, nurses have become disconnected from the richness embedded in our nursing past—a history that spans 4 centuries in Canada. This article makes a case for historically-informed nursing as an area of untapped potential in nursing education. Framing the topic around the headings History as Innovation, Education, Evidence and Explanation it concludes that historically-informed nursing shapes who we are and informs our identity—and that now is a perfect time for nurse educators to take advantage of what nursing history has to offer.