Nursing Queen Archetype in the Context of Changes in Estonian Society: A Retrospective View

Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), the founder of modern nursing, had influence on the whole of Europe. Nightingale has become the archetype of the queen of nurses and the latter can be used to understand different nursing cultures. The aim of the research is to analyse the manifestation and development of the nursing queen archetype retrospectively in the context of the history of Estonian nursing. The research method involves studying and interpreting historical photographs, documents, and biographies as well as secondary sources. The historical-cultural context provides a framework for analysing the development of nursing, taking into account Pierre Bourdieu’s theory. Data collection and analysis was conducted between 2019 and 2021. There were four developmental periods in the history of Estonian nursing: beginning in the early eighteenth century, the Republic of Estonia (1918–1940), the Soviet period (1940–1991), and the re-independent Republic of Estonia (since 1991). In periods of rapid change, the leaders (Anna Erma, Anette Massov, Ilve-Teisi Remmel) emerged, who became the equivalents to Nightingale or the queens for Estonian nurses.