History counts: how history can shape our understanding of health policy.

Historians of nursing can inform and provide perspective and context to the discipline and to policy makers. This article provides several examples of the interplay of history and health policy debates across time and place. From issues of the nursing workforce to discussions about the skill level needed to safely care for patients and the issues of practice boundaries, history provides evidence for shaping our understanding of and engagement with health policy. History offers a way to understand the present and think about the future. It illustrates a critical perspective for both action and advocacy.