The historical development of clinical scholarship over the span of a century of nursing is traced. Clinical scholarship is defined as knowledge and learning derived from analytic observations of clients and patients. The development of nursing care concept is discussed. (Author/MLW)

The experiences of nurse Lystra Gretter at the turn of the century show similarities with nursing today. Then and now, nursing provides a way for single parents to be self-supporting, and nurses were exposed to lethal diseases. However, nursing is now taught by nurses, not physicians. Credit hours have increased, and hours of clinical experience…