To become a nurse, you must learn a great deal –and good nurses never stop learning. But it doesn’t hurt to take a break and read about some nurse facts that don’t involve saving patient lives. Here are some interesting facts about nursing that you might find entertaining –and don’t worry, there isn’t a test afterwards:

• Nurses can be doctors. That’s right, nurses can obtain a Doctorate of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) or a Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP). Having a doctorate may help advance your career in research or management. Many nursing organizations, including the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, have recommended requiring NPs (nurse practitioners) to hold DNPs. 

• The first U.S. school for nurses was the New England Hospital for Women and Children, established in 1862. Linda Richards earned the first nursing degree eleven years later in 1873.
  

• Many consider Walt Whitman to be one of America’s greatest and most influential poets. His service as a nurse during the Civil War inspired many of his poems.

• The nurse’s cap originated in the early Christian era and was worn by nuns to identify them as caretakers of the ill. Later adaptations were developed to hold long hair up and out of the way. Florence Nightingale used the cap in the 1800s. Later, nursing schools began developing unique caps to identify nurses and the school from which they graduated. The Museum of Nursing History has a collection of 85 different nursing caps.
  

• Japan faces a critical shortage of nurses, yet their requirements for accepting foreign nurses is extremely stringent. Under an economic partnership made between Indonesia and Japan in 2008, 741 prospective nurses came to Japan between then and 2014. Only 128 were able to pass the required tests for licensure.

• The International Red Cross symbol can be traced back to Saint Camillus de Lellis who founded an order that tended to the wounded on the battlefields in the late 1500s and early 1600s. To identify themselves, the caretakers wore a large red cross on their cassocks. The Order of Clerks Regular, Ministers of the Infirm, better known as the Camillians, still use the emblem on their habits today. 
  
  

For Serious Information About Becoming an RN or BSN…

…look to Achieve Test Prep and our accelerated bridge programs that help qualified students earn their RNs or BSNs quickly. With year-round day, night, and weekend classes - either on one of our many campuses or through our live virtual online classes – we offer the flexibility to fit your needs, instead of making you adapt your busy life and work schedule to fit ours. Your success is our number one goal, as indicated by our very strong student support!