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Review Article
Affiliation of authors:
1. Clinical Lecturer, Department of Nursing, Alexander Technological Educational Institute,
Thessaloniki, Greece.
2. Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, Alexander Technological Educational
Institute, Thessaloniki, Greece
3. Nurse RN, State Mental Hospital of Attica “Daphne”, Athens, Greece
Corresponding Author:
Evangelos FRADELOS
Davaki 20, Glyfada, 16674
Athens,Greece
Tel. +3066946228458
E.mail: evagelosfradelos@hotmail.com
376 Balkan Military Medical Review
Vol. 16, No 3, Jul - Sep 2013
In 1835 the Medical Society of body of nurses selected from the finest of
Athens was founded and in 1837 the the enlistment. Approximately 160 years
School of medicine of the University of ago, the very few soldiers who knew
Athens [6, 7]. The first Hospital of Athens reading and writing, were considered well
was the Military Hospital „Makriyannis‟ educated [11, 14].
(1836) and the state Hospital „Elpis‟ Finally, it should be noted that
(1836) [8, 9]. during the „Greek-Turkish war‟ in 1897 the
The successful implementation of nurses - soldiers fulfilled their debt to both
medical services to hospitalized militaries Asclepius and Ares (Mars): “…officer and
and other citizens was provided, in support soldier that showed admittedly his
of the medical work, by the well trained superhuman bravery ... and those of the
and responsible nursing personnel. Healthcare sector, doctors and nurses that
took part and two of them were killed!”.
Stages of Evolution of Nursing [14] Those were Verginis Athanasios from
Education in Greece Kalamitsi of Corfu and Dimitrios Tsamis
from Mandra of Attica [15].
Hospitalization of patients in the The first efforts for professional
first hospitals after the liberation of the education for nurses belong to Queen Olga,
country was exercised by practical nurses. who in 1875 founded the first School of
They were women with low educational Nurses called „Evangelismos‟: it was the
levels who practiced the nursing third in the world [16]. Nine years later, in
occupation to earn their living [2, 4]. The 1884, the hospital „Evangelismos‟ was
first effort for educated and trained nurses founded, one of whose purposes was "... to
that were in fact men, was made by the educate women nurses according to the
Directorate of Health Services of the Greek rules of science". Initially, the attendance
Army, which created the first „School of at this nursing school was for 2 years.
Nursing‟ by a decree "About the Later, in 1930 it was reorganized and
recommendation of school for Nurses" on became a three-year program. The
August 18, 1861 [10]. The establishment educational program of the School had a
of the School occured about the same time significant positive impact on the nursing
with the School of Nursing of Florence services of the hospital and in the patient
Nightigale at Saint Thomas Hospital in treatment provided. Training courses were
London (1860) [11, 12]. organized, as well as seminars and special
It is also mentioned in the great symposiums. Graduates of the school were
Military and Naval Encyclopedia: "The also retrained abroad [17]. They were
school was founded on the 18th of August extremely hard-working with and did so
of 1861, aiming to educate experienced with a lot of heroism during the Balkan
nurses for peace and campaign Services. wars (1912-1913), the flu epidemic
The soldiers that had successfully attended (1918) the dengue fever epidemic (1928)
the school were given the specialty of and during the war of 1940-'41 [1, 4].
nurse and were used as such; this specialty The establishment of the
was also noted on their army certificate" Evangelismos Hospital must be considered
[13]. as a turning point for two reasons: first, the
The choice of soldiers - nurses relatively comfortable surroundings began
from „the excellent or unimpaired of trim‟ to attract people and not frighten them, and
and the notice that they should know secondly it started the systematic
reading and writing indicates the interest of scientific training of women nurses. As it
the army department to be staffed by a was characteristically described in an
378 Balkan Military Medical Review
Vol. 16, No 3, Jul - Sep 2013
article written by Trifon Andrianakos in of them gave their lives for their country
1930 in the journal Greek Medicine “Until [1, 12]. The State acknowledged the
the time of the creation of 'Evangelismos‟ sacrifices of Sisters nurses and in 1946 the
in Greece, and most especially in Athens, Greek Parliament unanimously passed the
the idea of hospitalization was frightening Legislative Decree (LD) 663/46 by which
for the poor and the general population… many matters relating to the Sisters nurses
as for the wealthy and educated people, were settled [23].
they preferred home healthcare and The year 1946 was a milestone in
considered hospitalization of their the evolution of nursing in our Country. By
relatives as inappropriate” [18, 19]. LD 663/1946 the title „graduate nurse‟ was
As time passed and after the Balkan established and the procedure for
wars had ended, in 1914, the Hellenic Red dispensing license to practice was defined;
Cross (HRC) founded a two-year the same law described the duties,
attendance school for the Sisters organized nursing education and
assistants of HRC. Zenovia Bolla, a Greek addressed the careers of the Sisters, the
graduate Sister from the School of Nursing certificate of the old-type of high school
of London Hospital, was asked to be the was considered an essential qualification
director of school. Marianthi Lekatsa, for the introduction of female students at
which had been trained in the school of the schools of nurses. Greece was the first
Boston, also taught there [2, 3]. The Country in Europe that established the
Graduates of the school, given an existing School Certificate as an entry qualification
law that that was published in the Official to nursing schools, followed by Belgium
Gazette in May 1914, were granted by the ten years later in1956 [4, 24, 25].
Greek Government the first official license In May of 1948 the Board of
to practice the nursing profession [1,3,20]. Nursing was established at the Ministry of
Furthermore, in 1924 the HRC Health, which was responsible for Nursing
founded the „Higher School of Nursing of Education, keeping records of the nurses
the Hellenic Red Cross‟, the first in Greece and for all matters that were related to the
with a three-year training program since its practice of the profession [4, 26, 27].
foundation. Until then, the students of Later on, new Schools for Nurses
HRC were trained in the hospital were created and the first was in 1946, the
„Evangelismos‟ [21]. In 1937, with the Military Officers Schools for Nurses in
Law 613/1937, the school of visiting Athens. The Director of this school was
sisters and nurses was founded inside the Cleopatra Avagianou, a graduate of HRC
Health School of Athens in Ambelokipoi, school [28]. In 1954 another State Nurses
and was supervised by Helen School was created in Thessaloniki [29].
Vassilopoulou [22]. That was followed by the
In the war of 1940, Sisters worked establishment and operation of several
exceptionally well under difficult and training schools for Nurses with a three- or
dangerous conditions. The Hellenic Red four-year study, under the auspices of the
Cross mobilized approximately 3,000 Ministry of Health and Welfare [4, 27].
Sisters, of which 300 were graduates and In chronological order according to
2,700 volunteers. All these Sisters covered the year of their foundation these schools
the nursing needs of the Armed Forces of were:
the country. Mountain surgeries, Nursing school of Agia Sophia Hospital,
ambulance stations, military and Floating founding year 1960;
Hospitals. Many of these Sisters were Nursing and Health Visitors School of
injured and some were disabled while 14 PIKPA, founding year 196;
Ziogou Th. et al: The History of Nursing Education in Modern Greece 379
14. Vladimir L.E. The health during the 29. Demetriades A. Epidemiological
Greco-Turkish War tou1897. investigation of perceptions about the
Logothetis, Athens, 1997. identity and role of the modern nurse in
15. Ministry of Military. Struggles and relation to education. PhD Thesis,
Dead-1830 1930, 10th Vol.,. in Athens, Aristotle University Medical School,
1930. 2008.
16. Kourkouta L. Kalogirou A.-M., 30. Presidential Decree (PD 184/79).
Mouxiou S. Lavdaniti M. Avrami M., 31. ―G.G‖ 5IA/15-3-1979
Ziogou I. The work of the Red Cross 32. Law 3391/2005/FEK 240/4-10-2005
Drama in the years of German 33. Law 1404/1983
occupation. Galinos, 2012:54 (3); 167- 34. Law 2916/2001
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Thesis Aristotle University Thessaloniki, (1): 1-5.
1988. 40. Kourkouta L., Plati P., Ouzounakis P.
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Recognition nursing profession by the Byzantium. Progress in Health
Greek State. 32nd Panhellenic Nursing Sciences, 2012: 2 (1); 200-203.
Conference. Thessaloniki, 9-12 May 41. Lanara B, Heroism and Nursing. A
2005. Philosophical Study, Athens, 1977.
21. Geroulanos M. An overview of the 42. Rayia, A., Principles and Dimensions
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22. NAPN: Helen S.Vasilopoulou,1874- 2001.
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23. Law 663/1946.
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Nursing and the Search Ithaca,
Nursing, 1993, 3:125 - 133.
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(2) :129-137
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especially Athens and Piraeus from the
19th century. Nursing,1996,4:254-261.
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Greece. Monography Thessaloniki,
2003.
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Medicine and Nursing in Greece .Lege
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