Mary Livermore's My Story of the War is a valuable piece of travel writing written from the point of view of a nurse who documented her unexpected personal and professional journey to administer the Sanitary Commission of the United States Union Army and provide nursing care during the American Civil War. Although Livermore's pre-war background had not been solely limited to the domestic sphere, her wartime experience involved a public negotiation between the traditional domestic realm assigned to women and new nursing professional functions that emerged during the war. In a context in which the general access of women to public writing was rather limited and in which nursing was not a formally regulated professional activity, Livermore's triumphal narrative reflects the increasing connection between progressively professional nursing functions that emerged in the context of war and a new women's rights leadership forged during her autobiographical journey.

Background: In a period of hopelessness motivated by a restrictive Victorian society that confined women to the domestic realm, Florence Nightingale wrote the cathartic Cassandra (1852) in an attempt to transform her despair into rebellion. Aims: To discuss Nightingale's approach to women's role in Cassandra. Methods: Historical Research was used to analyse Cassandra. Data gathered from primary and secondary sources were synthesised and reported in terms of their historical context and significance. Findings: Adopting the genre of `sage writing¿, Nightingale positions herself as a female messiah in an autoreferential narrative that projects women's future possibilities for release. Discussion: Assuming the identity of a prophetic Greek heroine cursed to never be believed, Nightingale's Cassandra claims professional work as the liberating solution for Victorian women. Conclusion: For the first time, Nightingale predicts in Cassandra some incipient prerequisites for a future nursing path for women's change.

Nurses' continuing professional development (CPD) improves the quality of nursing care, patients' safety, nurses' satisfaction and healthcare costs. However, evidence has shown that nurses do not always participate in their CPD and that CPD does not always address nurses' real needs. To examine this issue, a systematic review of the literature on nurses' experiences regarding their CPD in the clinical context was carried out. The studies selected for this review (n = 9) were analyzed thematically, through which three themes were identified: The relevance of CPD to nurses; the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of nurses to participate in CPD; and the specific needs of nurses to participate in CPD. The findings of this review highlight that nurses' experiences regarding their CPD is a key issue that has not been deeply studied. For nurses, their CPD continues throughout their professional career, and keeping their knowledge and skills up to date is important. The goals, motivations and needs that nurses may have to lead and participate in their CPD may vary according to their age and position. Organizations should consider nurses' specific professional situation as well as their actual needs to boost their CPD through different approaches and enhance nurses¿ retention at hospitals.

Aims To analyse the evolving social role of female nurses in the American Civil War context in terms of gender, class and race and to examine whether their caring efforts correspond to the beginnings of a new nursing professional identity. Design Historical research. Methods Thirteen American Civil War nurses' triumphal narratives written between 1865-1902 were analysed. The search and work were carried out between 2012-2020. Women's history and thematic analysis provided, respectively, the theoretical and analytical frameworks. Results The arrival of the war was the catalyst for change. The nurses' autobiographies were written in a hostile environment where class and racial tensions had to be released. This analysis points to nursing care being transformed from its traditional domestic traits to a progressive and intentional professional dimension. Conclusion American Civil War nurses' autobiographies offer an innovative vision of their lives and their nursing work. Specifically, the autobiographical accounts provide new perspectives on the evolution of the authors' social dimension in terms of class, race and gender as well as the development of a new nursing professional identity in that context. Impact Illuminating overlooked meanings hidden in nurses' autobiographies improves women's visibility and their contribution to the history of nursing

Background: Clinical narratives may be used as a means to improve the acquisition of clinical competences. Even though there are studies that recognize the potential value of clinical narratives to promote nursing professional development, there is no evidence that shows their value as a tool to improve nurses' competences to provide person-centred nursing care. Purpose: To evaluate the preliminary efficacy of narratives for the development of three nursing professional competences -respect, intentional presence and knowing the person- for providing person-centred care. Method: Using a pre-post quasi-experimental design, a pilot study with a total of 34 nurses enrolled in a training course of nursing specialization was conducted between September 2016 and June 2017. All the nurses received a multi-component intervention based on the Critical Reflective Inquiry model. The strategies of this programme consisted of writing three narratives, attending two masterclasses, participating in a discussion group, and participating in a face-to-face interview. The NarratUN Evaluation tool was used to assess the outcomes. Changes among nurses were analysed using the Wilcoxon signed Rank test. Results: The difference in the means between the pre- and post-intervention scores were statistically significant for respect [0.59 (95% CI 0.23-0.95; p = 0.001)], intentional presence [0.75 (95% CI 0.32-1.17; p < 0.0001)] and knowing the person [0.62 (95% CI 0.25-0.99; p = 0.001)]. The difference in the mean score for use of the narrative and reflection also increased significantly [0.65 (95% CI 0.32-0.98, p < 0.001)]. Conclusions: The use of narratives combined with other reflective strategies (masterclass sessions and discussion groups) proved to be effective for the development of professional competences of nurses.

Aim To explore the literature regarding how nursing narratives have been used to enhance reflective practice. Design Theoretical review. Data sources A literature search from 1990 - 2017 was conducted in PubMed, CINHAL and PsycINFO databases. Review methods After applying the selection criteria, 13 studies were identified. The quality of articles was evaluated. Results Three themes were identified as the main components of an ongoing narrative process based on looking back to past clinical experiences, creating spaces for dialogue and bringing the worlds of theory and practice closer together. Conclusions This review provides a forum for exploring the use of narratives to enhance reflective practice, which may lead to the acquisition of professional competences.

AimTo show the development of an emerging nursing profession through the eyes of Louisa May Alcott and Hospital Sketches. BackgroundIn Hospital Sketches, Louisa May Alcott recounts her experiences when she worked as a nurse of injured soldiers during the American Civil War, in an autobiographically and masked-referential way, which allows her to negotiate between transgression and convention. Unlike other reviews, in this paper the relevance of nursing remains highlighted. DesignDiscussion paper. Data sourcesExisting literature in databases, history books and our own reading of facts. Implications for nursingIlluminating overlooked meanings hidden in nurses' personal sources enables to approach their contribution to history, improve their visibility and project the future of nursing. Nursing care, whether domestic or professional, was and remains a catalyst for change. ConclusionThrough Alcott's words, we understand the transition of nursing care as a gradual extension of the middle-class woman's domestic role and a progressive definition of nurses' identity. In particular, we highlight how certain professional nursing nuances which appear in the text are compatible with the gradual extension of the boundaries of women's domesticity. Furthermore, Alcott's use of literary devices reveals the delicate balance between women's domestic role and some new nursing professional features, which anticipates nursing professionalization.

Independientemente del lugar, la Enfermería es una disciplina en construcción debido a una serie de escollos históricos por los que ha atravesado. Ante esta situación de dificultad, acudir a la historia de su profesionalización refuerza su identidad y colabora en la explicitación de su estatus disciplinar. Partiendo de lo anterior, el objetivo de este trabajo es realizar una aproximación conceptual al proceso de profesionalización de la Enfermería en el contexto anglosajón, mediada por la perspectiva que proporciona la historia de los conceptos, que aborda desde el punto de vista teórico los conceptos que han participado en esa historia. A tenor de dicho acercamiento, se vislumbra un intrincado proceso materializado en una conciencia común en Enfermería a la hora de entender y desarrollar la realidad de los cuidados y la realidad personal, así como un desarrollo paralelo del rol femenino en la sociedad. Por lo tanto, se puede concluir que abordar la historia de la profesionalización de Enfermería se perfila como una herramienta que favorece la consolidación de identidades, así como el desarrollo de su práctica asistencial.