INDIANAPOLIS — After five decades, Cheryl Hansell says nursing is "light years different," but one thing has stayed the same — the letter she wrote as a graduating senior in the 1972 IU School of Nursing Class.
On Friday, IU nursing faculty, staff, students and alumni unveiled what was inside the 1972 time capsule, which was located in the entryway of the School of Nursing Building at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.
Included in the time capsule was Hansell's letter projecting what IU nursing would be like in 2022.
"I think the technology has changed everything. It's gone from handwritten paper, if you copied it it was carbon paper. There were no Xerox machines," Hansell said. "The whole concept of the nurse has changed ... nurses have so much more involvement in patient care now."
Hansell says when she started, nurses didn't have stethoscopes and couldn't draw blood or start IVs. She went on to have a 30 year nursing career before retiring.
Other items in the time capsule included:
- A nursing cap and pin
- Newspaper clippings about the school
- Photographs of nursing students in their uniforms
- School newsletters and other announcements
"I think over the next 50 years we are going to see some remarkable things that create an impact to patients, to populations [and] to healthcare," Robin Newhouse, dean of the IU School of Nursing, said. "Nurses are important to the community because they are really the backbone of the healthcare system."
Contents of the time capsule will be managed and preserved by IU archivists.
-
Carroll County boy airlifted to Indy hospital after firework blows up in face
Crews were dispatched at 2:41 p.m. to a residence just outside of Sleeth, Indiana for a report of a young child with a severe face injury.Teen arrested after allegedly throwing fireworks at IMPD officers
According to the report, the teen was found to have a Glock 22 .40 caliber pistol with ammunition on him.Former 500 winner Alexander Rossi cycles to the top of IndyCar free agent list
Alexander Rossi won the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie with Andretti Global, but when that relationship staled after seven seasons, he moved on to what he thought was a better IndyCar teamWhat to buy in July, and some things to hold off on buying
July brings the biggest sales since Memorial Day, but be careful: Some of the biggest don't start until the middle of the month.