Russian nurses: from the Tsarist Sister of Mercy to the Soviet comrade nurse: a case study of absence of migration of nursing knowledge and skills.

Nursing in Russia during the Tsarist era had no structure and little formal organisation. The typical nurses of the nineteenth century were 'Sisters of Mercy', working within the communities of the Orthodox Church and semireligious societies, which were formed to provide a military nursing service. The experience of the Crimean War did not stimulate the foundation of an organised nursing service. There was no transfer of this body of nursing knowledge or experience to the wider rural or civilian population. The majority of Russia's population received inadequate medical and little nursing care.