Dedicated nurses have been the foot soldiers of medicine, treating battlefield casualties, caring for the poor, comforting the dying, and fighting maladies ranging from tuberculosis and polio to AIDS. This reference work takes an in depth look at significant events, eras of conflict and social change, landmark institutions, and champions of women's health. This unique reference work traces the story of nursing from Roman times to the present, including the evolution of military nursing. The book's numerous biographies of health care pioneers include many first-person narratives and eyewitness accounts, from Mother Teresa to Walt Whitman. A timeline of landmarks in nursing offers a concise overview of the profession, and the book also includes a detailed bibliography and index.

Abortion -- African-American nurses -- Ancient times -- Martha Ballard -- Clara Barton -- Mary Ann Bickerdyke -- Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell -- Mary Breckinridge -- Cadet Nurse Corps -- Edith Cavell -- Elizabeth Cellier -- Christian nursing -- Civil War -- Nursing under Communism -- Kate Cumming -- Curandera -- Naomi Deutsch -- Disease -- Dorothea Dix -- Angélique du Coudray -- Anna Blair Etheridge -- Florence Farmborough -- Genevíève de Galard -- Gender issues in nursing -- Mother Angela Gillespie -- Clara Hale -- Esther Hasson -- Hildegard of Bingen -- Hospice -- Anne Hutchinson -- Mary Agnes Jones -- Elizabeth Kenny -- Korean War -- Susan La Flesche Picotte -- Ruth Lubic -- Medieval and early Renaissance nursing -- Midwifery -- Native American nursing -- Navy Nurse Corps -- Nazi nurses -- Florence Nightingale -- Nineteenth-century nursing -- M. Adelaide Nutting -- Dame Mary Rosalind Paget -- Public health nursing -- Red Cross -- Revolutionary War -- Linda Richards -- Luisa Rosado -- Margaret Sanger -- Dr. Cicely Saunders -- Mary Jane Seacole -- Tsahaí Haíle Selassíe -- Spanish-American War -- Marie Stopes -- Mother Teresa -- Twentieth-century nursing -- Vietnam War -- Saint Vincent de Paul -- Florence Wald -- Lillian D. Wald -- World War I -- World War II -- Timeline of landmarks in nursing -- Works by and about healers.