125 Years of Nursing at Penn

One hundred and twenty-five years ago -- one year before the founding of the National Institutes of Health, several years before the discovery of penicillin, and many decades before the establishment of Medicare -- the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania was breaking boundaries in nursing education.  Since the creation of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Training School for Nurses in 1886, one of the first formal nursing education programs in the country, and the founding of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in 1950, Penn has been home to dedicated healthcare professionals, innovative scientists, and inspiring leaders in nursing.

To commemorate this milestone, the Nursing Alumni Association of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania commissioned alumna and artist Kathleen Shaver to create an art installation. “The History of Nursing As Seen Through the Lens of Art” in the Ware Lobby of Fagin Hall will be formally unveiled this weekend. The event launches a year-long celebration of 125 years of nursing at Penn.

All year we will pay tribute to the greats in nursing education who devoted themselves to HUP and to Penn.  We hope you will join us! For a preview of the art installation, a listing of 125th celebratory events, and a look at the history and future of Penn Nursing, visit www.nursing.upenn.edu/125th

Nursing Through Time

I am delighted to announce the launch of an exciting new website developed at Penn Nursing: Nursing, History and Healthcare at www.nursing.upenn.edu/nhhc. The site provides a lens through which scholars, students, clinicians, journalists, policymakers, and consumers can understand the historical roots of many issues and challenges faced by the nursing profession.  It is that profession that has devised ways and means of delivering health care services to the American public throughout the years. The website also addresses a wide range of current topics vital to comprehending and broadening our understanding of healthcare and nursing concerns, including the role of professional nurses, nurse shortages, workplace problems, and public health issues.

This website received significant funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine, a Scholarly Works in Biomedicine and Health grant, and the University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation, as well as support from the American Academy of Nursing’s expert panel on nursing and history and our School’s Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing.  The site was created by our nurse historian Jean C. Whelan, PhD, RN, under the initial direction of our late Professor Karen Buhler-Wilkerson, PhD, RN, FAAN.