title: Nurses' badges: archaic symbols or icons of nursing?
abstract: Nurses' badges have existed in various forms for hundreds of years. With recent changes in the structure of nurse education, the tradition of presenting all newly qualified nurses with a distinctive badge appears to be on the wane. This paper briefly investigates the history of the badges, their purpose, evolution and possible extinction.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Callander-Grant
mesh_terms: D001363:Awards and Prizes; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000266:history*; D004616:Emblems and Insignia / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D008008:Licensure, Nursing / Q000266:history; D012956:Societies, Nursing / Q000266:history; D013561:Symbolism; D006113:United Kingdom