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.
-
Indiana tops list for the cheapest gas prices in the country
Governor Mike Braun on Wednesday said that thanks to the suspension of the gasoline usage tax and excise tax, Hoosiers have had the cheapest gas in the country for a month.
Police: Shots fired into SUV with children inside in Bloomington, suspect fled
Multiple shots were fired into a SUV with four children inside in Bloomington Monday night, police say.
Purdue basketball to play four games in Canada on foreign trip
Purdue men's basketball released the schedule for its foreign trip to Canada in July. Purdue will play four games, with the first game being against Vancouver Select on July 25.
Shane Steichen shares what excites him most about this Colts team
Colts head coach Shane Steichen is entering year four in Indianapolis, looking for his first playoff appearance with the Colts.
