What was nursing from 1850-1900

There was so much to be learned in nursing history this week. From the very inspiring stories of Dorothea Dix and Florence Nightingale who both worked for the betterment of nurses and their patients to the nefarious character of Amelia Dyer  who used her skill in nursing for personal gain and killed countless children in her baby farming operation.

I actually really enjoyed watching the documentary on Florence Nightingale because it gave a very different perspective of the nursing icon. She wasn't perfect, she wanted to be the boss, and she didn't like working with other people very well.  It also made me realize how important working with other people really is because although Florence worked endlessly to help her patients in Crimea, she failed to see some major, deadly problems in their environment.

Dorothea Dix wasn't even a trained nurse and yet was so good at her calling that she was given leadership opportunities and went on to make some huge changes in medicine such as changes for the treatment of mentally ill patients. We then have the distinct and total opposite, Amelia Dyer. Amelia slaughtered babies to make a quick buck.

Not only did I learn about nurses from 1850-1900, but I also ended up finishing the book Call the Midwife this week. I loved it. This book was about a nurse midwife in the 1950's who cares for people in the poor and over crowded neighborhoods in London. She is shocked when she sees the conditions that the mothers in her care of delivering and raising children but comes to have a deep love and respect for her place in the chaos.  I then read more about Vera Brittain and came to the realization that she as a person had some real "get up and go". She is a person I very much admire because she followed what she thought was right in all aspects of her life through tragedy and happiness.

All in all, the history of nursing remains exciting and I am increasingly excited to delve into nursing at the turn of the century next week.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nursing in the early 1900's

Nursing in the early 1900's was just starting to look like what it is today. It was becoming more socially acceptable for women in all of society to become nurses and people were beginning to see the need for additional health care providers. This was also the beginning of our modern social medicine set up. During this time period we had the advent of the public health and education system which was largely managed by trained nurses as well as many medical technological advances that were beginning to take place. WWI was also an instrumental game changer. There were wounds that no one had ever seen before and social structures beginning to take place that would not only change the shape of society but also how medical professionals function in their roles. There were women like Lavinia Dock, Agnes Hunt, Lenah Higbee, Helen Fairchild, and so many others that made huge and lasting impacts on how nurses practice their medical art. During this time we also had one of the queens of soci...
Read more

Nursing in the 1970's, 80's, and 90's.

The world was booming at this point in time. Socially, economically, and technologically this was a time to be remembered. People were discovering themselves and they were discovering more about the world around us and really how to best live in it than they ever had before. Health care was effected by all of this. From the AIDS epidemic to the Hospice movement and all of the issues that we are dealing with today as far as how to pay for our health care and what nurses can do to protect and care for their patients in the best way possible while still being cost effective and efficient. Where do nurses stand in all of this? Nurses are the integral go between in health care. They are the patient advocate as well as the doctor's and administration's extension. During this period nurses were just beginning to understand the importance of personal safety and the use of what is now known as "standard precautions" (gloves, masks, gowns, etc) were just beginning to be realize...
Read more