Remember History to Shape the Future

I’ve always been a history buff. And in nursing, there’s much that can be gleaned from history that applies to current practice. History has consistently guided the profession’s forward movements. Nurses’ experiences and evidence-based findings have shaped patient care, clinical operations and professional practice.

?Learning from history is critical to advancing the nursing profession. Nurse leaders have a responsibility to focus on the future by using the knowledge that has carried them to the present.

?Recently, Julie A. Fairman, PhD, RN, FAAN, from Penn Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania – who is a world-renowned historian and the professor who taught my first class in nursing school – spoke to Cleveland Clinic’s 500+ nurse leaders virtually about how the past has informed nursing and healthcare practice and prepared nurses for the future. In her remarks, she highlighted topics such as pandemics, social injustice and public health.

?Read more about the wisdom she offered in this article .