Nursing in the Middle Ages

MONASTICISM LIFE,RULES, CONDITION OF MONASTERIES

BENEDICTIAN RULE KIND OF WORK ENJOYED VOWS PROVERTY CHASTITY OBEDIENCE PLACE FOR MEDICINE & NURSING

THE GUILDS ORGANISATION OF WORKMEN&TRADEMEN PROTECTED WORKERS,PRODUCTS& PUBLIC

LATERAL MIDDLE AGES(1000-1500AD)

THE CRUSADES AND MILITARY MEN AS NURSES During the middle ages, Pope Urban II called on Christians to take back the Holy Land from the Moslems. Thousands of men and women heeded the call and set out for Jerusalem. These crusaders fought their way across Europe, leaving sick and injured in their wake.

Knights Hospitaller The caretakers of the soldiers were knights who fought during the battles and returned to care for the ill and wounded when the fighting subsided. These men were called knight hospitallers. They found they preferred the role of the nurse and nursing became their profession.

RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR ORDERS In the Middle Ages, nursing was provided by religious, military and secular orders. One of the religious orders was "The Knights of Saint John." There were three levels of males participating in the order, Priests, Knights and Brothers

One of the principles of the order was devotion to duty. This became a standard of nursing care and still must be followed today. In nursing, the following of competent orders and attention to detail may make the difference between life and death.

ORDER OF ST. JOHN The Order of Saint John participated in the organization of the International Red Cross which bears its insignia, the red cross. The members of the order are still practicing nursing in England.

ORDER OF ST. JOHN Here were many Catholic orders caring for the sick during the middle ages. Even the secular orders were associated with the Church. Educated by apprenticeship, lacking knowledge of hygienic measures, and practicing under very primitive conditions, the care provided was, none the less, humane and caring.

Francis of Assisi The third order of saint francis (francis of assisi) was a secular order whose members devoted their time and energy to enhancing the lives of their friends and neighbors in the communities where they lived. caring for the sick was one of the order's important activities, with both men and women serving as nurses.

CATHOLIC ORDERS There were many Catholic orders caring for the sick during the middle ages. Even the secular orders were associated with the Church. Educated by apprenticeship, lacking knowledge of hygienic measures, and practicing under very primitive conditions, the care provided was, none the less, humane and caring.

DARK AGES OF NURSING During the Reformation, Catholic institutions were abolished by the newly formed Protestants. What had been good hospitals for the times, were replaced by Work Houses and Alms Houses for the poor. Some hospitals did replace the Catholic ones but without the organization and management of the Church, the conditions were abysmal.

SAIREY GAMP Care in the new institutions was provided by prisoners, pardoned criminals, alcoholics and aged prostitutes, no longer young enough to ply their trade. The "nurses" were best characterized by Charles Dickens's portrayal of Sairey Gamp. Sairey was an elderly prostitute working as a "nurse" who ate her patient's food and drank the family's booze.

She was hired to care for patients whose relatives could afford her sparse wage. Essentially her work consisted of sitting with the patient and doing as little as possible. It was a matter of survival of the nurses not the patients.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION The growing pains of the Reformation forced thinkers and philosophers to reevaluate their ideas and values. During the four hundred years that living was nearly unbearable, some scholars, reformers and inventors were paving the way for a new world order. It arrived with the onset of the Industrial Revolution. This was a time of free thought, individualism, and the beginning of capitalism and democratic forms of government.

EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIALISM EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION

He Industrial Revolution gradually brought forth a more equitable living style for the people. However, it was not without its own growing pains. Capitalists were protected by law in his exploitation of workers. There were child labor and sweatshops where disease and accidents were the norm. Hospitals remained places where the poor went to die.

At a time when it was unthinkable that women of good families would work outside the home, and certainly not as a nurse, which was at best, considered to be a "domestic." Into this age, Florence Nightingale was born.

THE BEGINNING OF MODERN ERA IN NURSING

Nursing in the Middle Ages

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Nursing in the Middle Ages