Chinese health treatment was traditionally provided
by various paramedical and medical personnel, with family
members dispensing everyday care for their sick relatives.
In these early times, the profession of nursing did not really
exist (Watt, 2004). Modern Chinese nursing evolved due to
the influence of Western missionaries who began arriving
after China lost the Opium War in 1842 (Xu et al., 2000).
Shortly before this time however, in 1835, the first Western
influenced hospital was established in Canton. The first
American nurse, Elizabeth McKechnie, arrived in 1884 and
began to introduce the Florence Nightingale system of nursing.
In 1888 the first school for Chinese nurses was opened
in Fuchou by another American, Ella Johnson (Chan &
Wong, 1999). She was later supplemented by Nina Gage,
who arrived in 1908 and then established a nurse training
program in 1910 as part of the Yale mission (Xu et al., 2000).