International Nursing History: The International Council of Nurses History Collective and Beyond

Abstract

In taking on, coordinating, researching, and eventually writing a centennial history of the International Council of Nurses (ICN), the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing embarked on an exciting, much needed, and also challenging project. The Center was only in its early phase of development when Joan Lynaugh, then director, agreed to take up the challenge of writing a more global nursing history. Under her skillful and energizing academic leadership, a team of international nursing history schol- ars worked on the book Nurses of All Nations from the early 1990s until its eventual publication in the ICN's centennial year, 1999.The exciting part of the experience was-probably very similar to what the ICN membership had also experienced all along-to become part of an international community of scholars and professionals. Furthermore, it was inspiring to debate ideas, ponder approaches, and, to explore the topic, to link with an international network of people familiar with international developments. Many of these people were or had firsthand involvement in international nursing affairs and health initiatives. We were fortunate to learn from many experts where to find documents and with whom to talk to. We visited many organizations and archives. We traveled around the globe and met many nurses from the most diverse places and contexts in the process. The project went beyond national and cultural boundaries in that we did not seek to write a history of individual national nursing organizations. Rather, we set it our goal to establish an international per- spective on nurses' professional identity and diversity. We were as much interested in understanding what had been the glue that had bound nurses from around the globe together in one international professional organization for so long, and we were curious to explore what had made the ICN meaningful to nurses who profoundly differed in race, ethnicity, religion, language, culture, nationality, and lived in very different political, economic and social contexts.1 We traced five perspectives throughout the book, including the subtle changing self-image of the ICN; its responses to issues of race, class, and gender; the meaning attached to nursing and the profession; nursing diplomacy and organizational survival; and personal friendships and travel.The ICN started out as a small organization in the broader context of the women's movement. For almost a century, the ICN has sustained its place as an important and meaningful organization for nurses from around the world. From the outset, its main goal has been to unite nurses worldwide through a confederation of national nursing organizations. The confederation addressed matters important to both the profession of nursing and people's health. Motivation, commitment, and enthusiasm banded nurses together despite turbulent social and economic changes, hardships of war, and pro- found cultural differences.The organization itself was founded in 1899; it was the initiative of the British nurse and suffragist Ethel Gordon Manson, later Mrs. Bedford Fen- wick, a prominent leader of the British Nurses Association (BNA). The profes- sional welfare of nurses, the interests of women, and the improvement of the people's health were intertwined goals for the founders of the ICN. But the new organization also reflected relations of cultural dominance of the time, rooted in colonialism and white supremacy. Although the organization's goal was to unite nurses internationally, the founding leaders all originated from Western Europe and North America, reflecting colonial relations of cultural dominance.Nursing as a respected, paid professional occupation for women from the middle class was a new phenomenon at the end of the 19th century. Health care profoundly changed as a result of industrialization and urbanization and shaped the demand for nurses. Scientific advancement of medicine trig- gered the rapid development of modern hospitals and led to the foundation of hospital schools for the professional training of nurses. …