Mapping the History of Home Nursing Care
With the inception of the human population, came the need for in-home care. Though there are no stock markers of those in need of these services, the newborns, sickly, and the elderly comprise most individuals who opt for such care. The concept of home care agencies is comparatively old. But, only recently has it emerged as an independent discipline. The reason being that for decades, home health care nursing was thought to be a part of community health nursing. How it all started In the mid-1800s in England, the strains of home care were first visible with the start of the practice of visiting nursing. An organized movement of district nursing began when William Rathbone (1819 to 1902), the wealthy Liverpool merchant and philanthropist, took the in- home care services of Mary Robinson for nursing his wife in her last moments of illness. Inspired by Robinson’s services, Rathbone recognized the need for establishing a district nursing system that the economically backward ...