I have a strong love of languages so I started looking into the origin of
the word nurse. What I found put it best came from "Nursing: The Finest Art"
by M. Patricia Donahue, Ph.D., RN. She wrote, "Nursing has been called the
oldest of arts and the youngest of professions (Donahue,1996). The history
of nursing is synonymous with the history of woman. The connotations of the
word nurse has changed over the course of history. The words nurse and
nursing have many meanings. The word nursing itself is derived from the
Latin nutrire "to nourish". The word nurse has its roots in the Latin noun
nutrix which means "nursing mother", often referring to a wet nurse (a woman
who breast fed the babies of others). The French term nourrice also referred
to a woman who suckled a child. The original meaning of the English word was
the same and the term first used in English in the 13th century and its
spelling underwent many forms, norrice, nurice or nourice,to the present,
nurse. 

Other dimensions were added to its meaning throughout the evolution of the
word - "a woman who cares for and tends to young children". By the 16th
century the meanings of the noun included "a person, but usually a woman who
waits upon or tends to the sick". Two more components were added during the
19th century "training of those who tend to the sick and carrying out of
such duties under direction of a physician".

I love that the 2 are so inextricably tied together since my Grandma told me
I informed her when I was 3 yo that I wanted to be a baby nurse. I
eventually spent over 20 years working with families in various hospitals
including ten plus years as a lactation consultant. As a profession, nursing
had to overcome the perceptions of the 18th & 19th centuries that it was a
job only fit for prostitutes and drunkards. We've managed to overcome that
quite well to where nursing is now the most trusted profession in the USA.
Maybe we can also get to the point where we can return to where breasts are
accepted in the general public for their original purpose. I'll just embrace
the moments of confusion over the words nurse & nursing since (for me) they
include nurturing babies & helping mothers nourish their babies in the best
possible way. 

Many blessings to all who work towards the same goals.

Linda Madsen, RN
Wylie, TX

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