Page:A short history of nursing - Lavinia L Dock (1920).djvu/24

8 the universal appeal to sentiment and sympathy made by suffering, has made nursing the favourite preoccupation of noble and royal women, from the earliest dawn of history, as has been illustrated afresh in the recent war, when queens and empresses have put on the nurse's uniform. As a profession for self-supporting women in modern times nursing has suffered from this patronage, yet it has also in the past been benefited by it. Whether helpful or not, this is a factor which will always have to be reckoned with while social distinctions last.

The prevailing religious philosophies and beliefs of an age have profoundly influenced nursing growth. Though all ancient religions concerned themselves with questions of sickness and health, not all had an identical influence on nursing practice. Some religions rather tended to foster cruelty and intolerance, while those of an ethical type have naturally led in emphasizing tenderness and compassion, and in providing strong incentives to hospitality and charity. Such religions have found congenial modes of expression in fostering and perfecting the care of the sick. Again, the strength of religious taboos and of dogmatic restrictions and observances has been of marked influence in nursing. For many ages, probably,