Feminist Approaches to Nursing History

Abstract

Nursing history, similar to women’s history, has followed the progression of feminist movements, garnering approach and direction from emerging feminist thought. In this article, in a chronological format, women’s and nursing history are juxtaposed with feminist movements. Brief representations of scholarship in women’s history are used to set the context for nursing history, which forms the bulk of the analysis. Although the purpose of this article is to delineate the evolution/direction of Canadian nursing history, past and current historiography is framed within important international scholarship; hence, discussion of works by Celia Davies, Barbara Melosh, and Susan Reverby, for example, is included. New directions in Canadian nursing history should include attention to everyday work experiences from which nurses and nursing students construct their identity. In addition, comparisons to other workers will be helpful.