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 society emerging in her role as a nurse, Vera Brittain, who left her college degree on hold to go off to war and take care of the wounded. An event that would profoundly shape the rest of her life. I get the impression that if a modern nurse were to be transplanted into this era of nursing, he or she may not feel completely out of place.