History of NAHRS
by Esperanza Moreno

The history of nursing is a fascinating one predating Florence Nightingale who wrote the famous NOTES ON NURSING with some concepts about nursing which are as valid in the second millennium as they were in her century. The Allied Health disciplines were introduced at a later date as the health industry evolved from hospital based specialties to programs recognized as university specialties in various parts of the country.

The educational preparation of nurses has its own interesting story . In the United States, a large majority of the nurses were trained in hospital diploma schools of nursing although some collegiate programs were available, the first one being at Yale University. When the American Nurses Association published its Position Paper back in the 1960's, nursing education changed. The ANA requirement for entry level professional nursing was the baccalaureate degree. The community and junior colleges then offered associate degree programs for nursing technicians. The diploma schools continued to graduate students. The graduates of all three programs, baccalaureate, associate degree, and diploma schools were allowed to take the same examination to become registered nurses. Much literature was published comparing the graduates of each program. The National League for Nursing listed the accredited schools in the country. More changes have come about and specialties within the profession as well as outreach programs for nursing along with nurse practitioner programs. Hospitals were sold like used cars all over the country and hospital nursing became more and more limited. Where it will go nobody knows. However, this has made an impact on the librarians serving the profession.

The literature for nursing was not clearly identified in the beginning. The American Journal of Nursing had begun publication in 1900 and the first survey of nursing libraries had taken place in 1905. The Cumulative Index to Nursing Literature, edited by Mildred Grandbois, recently deceased, began in 1956 and in 1977 expanded to include allied health. It went online in 1984 and is currently known as CINAHL. The Interagency Council on Library Tools for Nursing was established in 1960. Virginia Henderson, God rest her soul, directed the monumental publication of the Nursing Studies Index between 1963 and 1972. It included material found in eleven libraries on the eastern seaboard of the US in four volumes. It listed studies, research methods, historical, and biographical material from books, periodicals, and pamphlets covering the period of 1900 through 1959. Vern Pings published a Plan for Indexing the Periodical Literature of Nursing in 1964. The International Nursing Index began in 1966, the same year that the Index Medicus became computerized as MEDLINE. The database contains, and continues to contain nursing material. During the 1970's the courses on nursing literature were offered by the Medical Library Association and taught by Evelyn Bedard, Sally Harms and Jacqueline Picciano. In 1979 a course on the literature of allied health was offered for the first time. The first Brandon List of Nursing Books and Journals was published in the Nursing Outlook. Dr. Alfred Brandon has previously publish Medical Books for a Small Library which included nursing. Dorothy Hill has continued the nursing list since his passing. The Brandon List of Books and journals in Allied Health was published in the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association for the first time in 1984. In 1996 Margaret Allen published the "Key Nursing Journals: Characteristics and Database Coverage".

The Virginia Henderson International Nursing Library was established by Sigma Theta Tau in 1994. The Journal of Knowledge Syntheses for Nursing became the first electronic nursing journal in 1994. The Interagency Council changed its name to the Interagency Council on Information Resources for Nursing in 1995. That same year the RNDex began with the coverage of 100 nursing research journals.

The nursing librarians became an independent group in 1962 and continued to meet through 1981 when the organization changed its name from Nursing Libraries Interest Group to Nursing and Allied health Resources Section. In 1982 it published its first NAHRS NEWSLETTER. The organization began contributing papers at the MLA ANNUAL Meeting in 1983 as organized by Jackie Picciano with Rosemary Mattox as moderator. The organization formed a Strategic Planning Committee in 1984 and a Publications Committee in 1985. By 1989 it established and Honors and a Research Committee. It awarded certificates to Mildred Grandbois, Lois Miller and Mary Pekarski.

The Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section became the sixth largest section of the Medical Library Association in 1993. by 1994 it established the Librarian of the Year Award which was granted to Margaret (Peg) Allen. Ellen Hall and Nelia Wurangian developed a NAHRS WEB SITE. Its birthday party for 35 years was celebrated in 1997. The MLA Annual Report 1997/98 published the Progress on Goals and Priorities as presented by the Chair Ysabel Bertolucci. Jackie Picciano presented the history of the NAHRS in a poster session at the 1998 Anniversary of the Medical Library Association in its 100 year celebration.