It is a common belief that the origination of organized nursing in America began with Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton in the 1800's. This idea has validity if one is talking about female nurses. In the United States very little consideration is given to the presence of male nurses during the early years of the nation.
In fact, the first recognized nurse in America was a male, Fray Juan de Mena. A member of the Dominican Order, Fray de Mena arrived in the Americas on one of the sailing expeditions from Spain. The Order of San Domingo settled in the Mexican territory known as San Domingo. They laid the first stone in the construction of the Church of St. Nicholas and its accompanying hospital building (known now as the old building) in 1519. The size of the old hospital was such that only 6 patients could be admitted at any one time.
NURSE
Due to generous contributions of neighbors, the Brotherhood, and other permanently settled private citizens a second building was constructed and in use in 1552. Nursing care was provided by the brothers of the Order of San Domingo, of which the first recognized nurse was Fray Juan de Mena. Fray de Mena spent his days as a lay brother tending the sick and infirm. He was esteemed and praised in Mexico for his diligence and hard work. His work as a nurse predated the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock by seventy years.
In 1554, a Spanish convoy of 4 ships set sail from the port of San Juan de Ulua near Veracruz, Mexico with a ship laden with more than 400 people and the treasure looted from the Mexican territory and its native inhabitants. On one of the ships was Fray Juan de Mena, having been tricked into returning to his native Spain.
En route to a stopover in La Havana, Cuba, the ships ran into a storm. Three of the four ships and more than 300 people were lost in what has become known as "The Wreck of the Three Hundred". The few survivors of the storm landed ashore, and started walking south, believing they were near a Spanish outpost. Along the way they were attacked by the local Karankawa Indians. Fray Juan de Mena took an arrow in his back and died after only travelling a short distance.
There was a strong connection between religion and nursing through the ensuing centuries and males continued to dominate the nursing scene. After the birth of the new American nation known as the United States, males continued to be the primary health care givers. In the 1800's most US hospitals were "male nurses only". It was at this point that the influence of Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton changed the face of nursing in America. Despite their service in both the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War, males were banned from working in most hospitals, participating in organized nursing organizations and joining the Army Nurse Corp for many years. It was not until the Army Nurse Corp changed its policy and commissioned its first male army nurse in 1955 that the male nurse population experienced growth. To this day, females continue to dominate the nursing scene, comprising a whopping 90 to 95% of the nursing population much has changed. Male nurses no longer belong to religious orders. They train in established nursing schools, don uniform scrubs and work in all areas of a hospital. Even though the male nurse now wears uniform scrubs instead of the habit of a religious order, the value of male nurses is on the rise and they are now valued and respected colleagues in the workplace.
America's First Nurse NURSE
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