The earliest form of nursing education was through apprenticeships. Apprentices would learn under an established nurse or doctor in order to gain hands-on experience in providing care for patients. This form of learning was successful for many years as it provided nurses with direct knowledge and skills needed to do their job, however it lacked structure and did not allow for much specialization outside of basic medical procedures (McLaughlin, 2018).

In response to this lack of structure, formalized educational programs began appearing in the early 1800s with Florence Nightingale leading the charge (McLaughlin, 2018). These programs included more rigorous academic standards and focused on teaching students topics related to patient care such as nutrition, anatomy, physiology and pharmacology. This shift changed nursing education forever by introducing standardized curriculums that allowed for greater specialization within the field depending on one’s interests or goals. Moreover these programs opened up opportunities for nurses who wanted to pursue higher degrees through universities like Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees in Nursing which increased both salary potential and job prospects (Serafin et al., 2017).

The second trend in nursing education was establishing dedicated schools at colleges and universities specifically aimed at training nurses (Hess & Wessels 2016). Before this there were only a few dedicated hospitals offering diploma programs however they weren’t widely available across all regions because they required large investments that prevented many towns from building them (Hess & Wessels 2016). In comparison having university based schooling made it much easier for students all over the country gain access higher levels of nurse training regardless their location. As a result this allowed these institutions create tailor-made degree tracks that gave them competitive advantages when competing against other similar ones while also allowing them cater towards different areas specializations better than ever before such as critical care or pediatrics .

Both trends are still very much present today though advancements have been made since then such as creating accelerated bachelor’s degrees making it faster obtain qualifications without sacrificing quality instruction . Nevertheless both trends remain prominent due great success rate associated with them since inception due ease enrollment , cost effectiveness , geographic flexibility , specialized curriculum options among other features . Therefore efforts should continue being made towards maintaining strong foundation laid by earlier pioneers ensuring future generations get benefit same level quality instruction previous generations received contributing even further success rate achieved historically..

References
Hess R & Wessels M (2016) A History Of U S‐Based Schools Of Nursing From 1873 To 1950: Journal Of Professional Nursing 32(1): 14–21 doi 10 1016/j profnurs2016 01 002
McLaughlin KA (2018) History And Evolution Of The Nurses Role: Advances In Nursing Science 41(2): 94–111 doi 10 1097 00020659 018 069463
Serafin A et al.(2017) Accelerated Versus Traditional Baccalaureate Programs In Nursing: A Systematic Review: Nurse Education Today 51 : 44–51 doi 10 1016 j nedt 2017 04 004