The Past and Present of Modern Nursing in Turkey

Abstract

The word nursing comes from the word “nurture (nutrio)” in Latin and means “the care given to the elderly, the young, the sick and the wounded in need of help”. It is reported that the concept of modern nursing started with Florence Nightingale in Istanbul Selimiye Barracks during the Crimean War in 1854. The first developments in the field of nursing in Turkey were realized by Dr. Besim Ömer Pasha. In the following years, very important steps were taken in nursing education. In addition to this, faced with adverse situations, nurses have made great contributions to the nursing profession by taking the right steps in this process. Having enough knowledge about these positive and negative events taken place in the nursing profession is thought to provide important contributions to the development of nursing profession. Thus, in this compilation, the developments in modern day nursing education and profession from past to present in Turkey were discussed.

Keywords: Nursing, profession, Turkey