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| Dr. Linda Sabin, Visiting Assistant Professor in
the department of Nursing Education, has been a practicing nursing
historian for over twenty years. She has completed three books and
numerous articles in her field of study. Her primary area of
interest is the history of nursing in the Deep South from antebellum
times to the late 1940's. She just completed a manuscript on the
history of the school of nursing at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in
Baltimore. She is currently the editor of The Bulletin,
a quarterly newsletter published by the America Association for the
History of Nursing and is a regular contributor to the
organization's Journal: Nursing History Review. Dr. Sabin's
current research topic relates to material culture and nursing
uniforms in history. |
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""War,
Epidemics, and Pioneer Hospitals: The Crucibles of
Nursing
Practice in the 19th Century" |
| Nursing is a social practice that has evolved as
the result of community need in times of disaster or medical
innovation. Nurses have
a long-recognized informal role when wars and epidemics occur, but
during the 19th century this role became institutionalized in cities
as they developed hospital systems.
The need for trained nurses was demonstrated during the
Crimean, Civil, and Franco-Prussian wars. In Northern states this
need was addressed by nurse veterans and community leaders, and
their efforts culminated in the establishment of the first
hospital-based nursing programs in the early 1870s.
By the time the Spanish-American War broke out there were
over 1000 hospital-based nursing schools in the Northeastern and
Midwestern sections of the country.
In the near and deep sections of the American South, seasonal
epidemics that continued throughout the 19th century spurred
interest in developing training programs for nurses. Nursing
development was significantly delayed in these regions, however,
because of environmental and cultural issues.
The epidemic-friendly climate, segregation, family structure,
social isolation, and grinding poverty delayed community recovery
from the Civil War era. Hospital development was also delayed,
denying nurses a site for training and visibility until the early
years of the 20th century. In American society today there are new
hindrances that are just as devastating to the development of an
adequate supply of educated nurses as there were in the country
during the 19th century. The
roots of some of these problems can be found in the dramatic changes
in the 19th century, and their recognition is vital for nursing as
we know it to survive another generation. |
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