[Deconstructing assumptions: the history of care in light of perceptions of the nursing profession].

Authors

Marc Catanas

Published in

Soins; la revue de reference infirmiere. Volume 71. Issue 909. Pages 27-31. Epub Sep 28, 2026.

Abstract

The nursing profession continues to be shaped by persistent stereotypes: that it is historically a female-dominated field, that it has exclusively religious origins, that it is subordinate to medicine, and that it lacks its own body of knowledge. This article aims to demonstrate that these apparent truths do not hold up to historical analysis. Drawing on recent work in the history of care, as well as research on antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the nineteenth century, it establishes that these perceptions are the product of discontinuous historiographical constructions and processes of social normalization. The history of nurses, when approached from the perspective of care practices themselves, thus serves as a powerful tool for deconstructing contemporary stereotypes.

PMID:
42887938
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 17 Oct 2026.

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