The history of the Turkish Nurses Association dates back to 1933. Our association was founded in Istanbul on 23.08.1933 by volunteer nurses as ‘Patıent Carers Assocıatıon’. This society was renamed the Turkish Nurses Association on 3 July 1943 with the developments in the Republican era and the efforts of nurses with formal nursing education. In the same year, the ‘Administrative Board of the Turkish Nurses Association’ was formed and Esma DENİZ was elected as the first president of the Turkish Nurses Association.

Between 1933 and 1973, the association, whose head office was in Istanbul, became a member of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) on 13 June 1949. In 1951, Ankara Branch and in 1952, Izmir Branch were opened. On 2 March 1973 (in accordance with the Law No. 1630 on Associations), the head office of the Turkish Nurses Association was moved to Ankara. In the same year, THD Istanbul Branch and Isparta Branch were opened in 1974. As a result of the opening of new branches in the following years and the closure of branches that could not survive, there are a total of 16 branches (Antalya, Bursa, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, İstanbul, İstanbul Anatolia, İzmir, Konya, Malatya, Manisa, Mersin, Ordu, Trabzon, Uşak, Zonguldak) in 15 provinces that are actively working after the 2018 General Assembly.

THD, which continues to work in the field of nursing practice, management, education and personal rights of the nursing profession to ensure that nursing-specific knowledge and practices are recognised as a vital component of the health system, has led the enactment of the Nursing Law and Regulation.