At the end of the 19th century, “The Lady With the Lamp” — or as she is more widely known, Florence Nightingale — founded modern nursing. Each year, in recognition of the importance nurses, play in our lives, a week is dedicated to all things nursing beginning on “Nurse’s Day” and ending on May 12th, Florence Nightingale’s birthday. I’m highlighting specialty pens used by nurses before the digital age.
“Nurse’s Pens” are a genre of fountain pens that were marketed to nurses throughout the 1940’s and 50’s, mainly by Waterman and Esterbrook. Scheaffer also had a minor role in the nurse pen market.
Why did nurses need a specialized fountain pen? Because hospital medical charts were written by hand in different colored inks designating the shift. These pens came with different colored top jewels, in black, green, and red – representing all three common nursing shifts at the time: 7am to 3pm (BLACK ink), 3-11pm (GREEN ink), 11pm-7am (RED ink).
Waterman’s made different varieties of nurse’s pens, their standard set came in “lustrous satin Pearl of white.” They offered the most diverse options, including sets with one pen and a pencil, sets with two pens for two different colors of inks, and sets with a pen case that included a thermometer inside!
Esterbrook manufactured a series of small, white Nurse’s Pens based on their J-Series. Their pens had colored cap jewels, in the familiar black, green, and red to coordinate with the nurse’s work shifts, The green jeweled pens are the least common, while black jeweled pens are the most common.
My Esterbrook Nurse’s Pen Set
I picked up an Esterbrook Nurse Pen set (a pen and pencil) which clearly involved a mix and matching of various pens. The cap of the pen matches the pencil while the barrel is noticeably more white, but that’s ok. I haven’t begun their restoration. It doesn’t appear much is needed. The pencil works, and I believe a new sac is installed. We shall see.
I imagine different pens for different work shifts seem archaic, but how can we appreciate where we are today if we don’t know where we’ve been. At one time, the pen was a necessary nursing tool and the color of ink on the paper patient chart could be vitally important with respect to patient diagnosis and care.
Let’s add some perspective, in 1946, a Register Nurse could expect to earn $170-$175 per month and pay $8.50 for a Waterman Nurse pen set (5% of her monthly salary). That same pen today would set a nurse back $130, which is way more than the cost of a decent stethoscope.
Pen Vital Statistics
- Capped length. 121mm
- Uncapped length. 110mm
- Barrel diameter 11mm
- Cap diameter 12mm
- Weighs in at 12g
Chronicles of a Fountain Pen 
That’s so interesting about pen color
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Thanks, I mentioned it to my daughter (she is a Peds ER nurse and has been for the last 15 yrs?) and she was amazed. But it makes good sense
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Interesting! I’ve heard of pens for doctors and lawyers but have never heard of pens for nurses. The pens look beautiful and classy.
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Thank you for reading. I agree, the Waterman pens are very attractive. The example I used are a rare find. Most are not in such good shape.
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I still hand write my notes. Nothing as classy a the Waterman..I did receive one when I graduated. Doctor stole it.
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Thank you for reading. Completely agree the Waterman pens bring a level of elegance and class just not found with Esterbrook. And I too had a graduation pen stolen – gotta love people.
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Used fountain pens daily in my nurse notes. Always black ink. Has to be black nowadays. I used one of those accountants half red/half blue pencils alongside a ballpoint for handover sheet. Circled stuff with it. Red? Important. Blue? Better get done as soon as. Black ballpoint dropped in my pocket for meds charts and for general info on the handover sheet for day ahead. Notes? Always fountain pens. Admission paperwork too. Patients loved to see them used when admitted. Spoke of their experiences using them. Great ice breaker. I remember the theatre team having fountain pen and ink envy. They were true fans. Especially the anaesthetic team. Didn’t know they made nurse specific pens. Wow!
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My daughter has been a Peds ED nurse for 15 years. She was very interested in Nurse Pen sets but she hasn’t used a pen in years. Thanks for your thoughts.
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I saw the title and had to double back – I expected this to be from Gray 😝. I dont know about nurses, but im sure these would have been useful for college lecturers … red for marking, green for IVing (internal verification) and black for just general writing 😊
So i guess i want a set now
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Last year I found a beautiful set of Waterman Mother of Pearl nurse pens. They wanted $300. I could not do that
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Oh maybe not then
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