Nursing History On Display in Newly Renovated Museum

University of Maryland School of Nursing has renovated its Living History Museum, and possibilities are unfolding for new exhibitions that illuminate nursing history. The museum receives loans of artifacts, and also boasts an impressive collection built up by alumni of the school.

Current exhibition Angels of the Battlefield: Nursing During the Civil War is especially popular due to the high amount of military nurses who come through the museum. Curator Dan Caughey remarks, "For humor's sake, a lot of visitors like Phoebe Pember, who was the head nurse at a (Confederate) hospital in Richmond and had a tendency to carry around a pistol with her to keep the doctors in line. I think nurses today kind of joke that they wish they could do that."

Not all nursing schools show such a dedication to the history of the nursing profession. A Registered Nursing career today is vastly different than it was, say, during the Civil War! To learn more about the museum, visit their website. Information originally from nurse.com.