The purpose of this project is to create a nursing and history website that will document and analyze nursing's most compelling and controversial political and social issues and place them in their historical context. This web site will serve as a primary source of historical background information on critical issues regarding the nursing profession and their connection to public policy. The three major aims of this project are to 1) provide broad access to the historical evidence needed to make effective health care policy decisions; 2) provide a tool that can be used by practitioners, researchers, educators, policymakers and journalists to gain perspective on health care issues in general and nursing in particular by developing the historical context; and 3) increase nursing' visibility in the national and international communities. Content on the website will consist of document and data presentation as well as synthesis and analysis of completed research. The website will address a wide range of issues critical to comprehending and broadening our understanding of health care and nursing concerns, including the role of professional nurses, nurse shortages, access to care, advance nursing practice, racism, workplace problems and public health issues. Website content will be compiled, synthesized and transferred into electronic form suitable for internet use. This project represents an innovative, creative method of disseminating historical information and analysis to a broad audience. Nurses, scholars, policy-makers, journalists, and the general public are expected to be frequent visitors to the final website. This project, which will result in a unique electronic information resource, promises to make a significant contribution to our knowledge base of nursing history and its close connection to health care policy.
