nursing history Archives - Page 3 of 7

A Call to Address Fatigue to Protect Nurse Health and Patient Safety—from 1919

The evidence on nurse fatigue has been there all along.

During Women’s History Month, which is about to end, I’ve been posting (here and here) on nursing history (and in the process exploring its close confluence with women’s history). For this last post, I’m highlighting an article published in the March 1919 issue of AJN—exactly 100 years ago. The evidence on fatigue from long working hours has been there all along.

“The Movement For Shorter Hours in Nurses’ Training Schools” (free until April 15; click on the pdf version in the upper right), was written by Isabel Stewart, who was professor and then director of the nursing program at Teachers College, Columbia University, and coauthor of the National League for Nursing Education (the forerunner of today’s National League for Nursing) Standard Curriculum for Schools of Nursing.

A call for 8-hour work days for nurses.

In this article, which is in some ways disturbingly relevant today, Isabel Stewart notes that major nursing organizations recently met and were seeking “to enlist the support of a great many influential organizations and the general public in establishing an eight-hour day and a fifty-two hour week for pupil nurses.” (As a reminder, hospital nursing staff at that time were mostly nursing […]

Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, FAAN, editor-in-chief (emerita)2019-03-29T11:07:06-04:00March 29th, 2019|Nursing, nursing history, patient safety|3 Comments

The Complex and Illuminating History of Nurse Participation in Bedside Rounds

This week’s offering in homage to Women’s History Month.

We know from research that interdisciplinary bedside rounds improve communication and create a safer care environment. As noted by the author of a new CE article in the April issue, nurse–physician bedside rounding “has been shown to reduce mortality, medication errors, hospital length of stay, and hospital costs; improve staff and patient satisfaction; expand the health care team’s understanding of the patient’s plan of care; and increase both efficiency and perceptions of patient safety.”

Not your grandmother’s rounds.

In her article, “An Historical Review of Nurse–Physician Bedside Rounding,” Genevieve Beaird notes that while nurses rounding with physicians is not new, the nurse’s role today is vastly different from the early days. At that time, the nurse’s main concern was often preparing the stage, so to speak, for the physician’s appearance at the bedside. Here’s a quote from Dorothea Gothson, RN, in a 1913 issue of AJN:

“There is nothing more distressing to either patient or the earnest hardworking nurse than to be surprised by the attending doctors…. Equally annoying is the experience of patients and nurses being ready, waiting for the doctors, and their not appearing for one or two hours after the appointed time—perhaps not at all—thus upsetting […]

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Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2019-03-22T08:39:03-04:00March 22nd, 2019|Nursing|0 Comments

The Lasting Influence of the Progressive Visiting Nurses of the Late 19th Century

Nursing has a long history of advocacy and activism on behalf of vulnerable populations. For Women’s History Month, we have been drawing attention to the theme of the intimate connection between nursing history and women’s history. In this post, we share an image of nurses at the Henry Street Settlement in New York’s Lower East Side in the late 19th century, where nurse and social worker Lillian Wald organized nurses to bring essential health services and much more to the poor immigrant populations of the area.

A new model of possibility.

These early visiting nurses established a new model of possibility that has echoed through efforts since to improve the health and living conditions of millions. The following text, from the editorial comment in the January 1902 issue of the American Journal of Nursing, suggests that the efforts of these progressive nurses in the Lower East Side threw into relief some of the forces of corruption in New York City’s famed and powerful political machine that were keeping the poor in such abysmal and unhealthy living and working conditions.

Henry Street Settlement Nurse, Lower East Side, New York City

“After the downfall of Tammany, the public […]

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Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, FAAN, editor-in-chief (emerita)2019-03-15T11:07:58-04:00March 15th, 2019|Nursing|0 Comments

Women’s History is Nursing’s History

We would be remiss not to highlight Women’s History Month—after all, nursing’s history is intrinsically tied to women’s history. As women became more independent, so too did nursing. And it’s important to acknowledge our history of contributions to shaping this country’s health care system. As I note in a March 2015 editorial:

“The story of nursing continues to be one of social commitment, innovation, and problem solving. It legitimizes and supports our inclusion on governing boards and our presence at policymaking tables. It can infuse each of us with pride and energy for the work we do.”

One hundred and nineteen years of archives.

Linda Richards, first American trained nurse

AJN has 119 years of archives documenting nursing’s legacy (all free to read for subscribers). To mark Women’s History Month, each Friday this month we are highlighting an archive article and making it free until April 1. Today we’re sharing “Recollections of a Pioneer Nurse,” which was published in January 1903 (click through to the PDF version for the best version).

First trained nurse in the United States.

The article was written by Linda Richards (1841-1940), considered the first trained nurse in the United States. It’s a vivid first-person account of her experiences in nursing at the turn of the century, and also […]

Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, FAAN, editor-in-chief (emerita)2019-03-15T10:04:27-04:00March 8th, 2019|Nursing|0 Comments

Babies at the Border: Reflections on Nursing on Ellis Island

Immigrants at Ellis Island. Library of Congress.

For the past few years, the nation’s attention has been repeatedly drawn to “the immigration problem” on the southern borders of the United States. This past summer, images of babies screaming for their mothers as families were separated, and photos of teens and young children peering through chain-link fences—with foil blankets crumpled in the background—tugged at heartstrings. With recent fear-mongering about a caravan of refugees making their way through Mexico toward the United States, the issue is once again taking center stage.

A nation of immigrants.

With each image, my thoughts turn to our nation’s long history of regulating immigration. After all, we are a nation of immigrants. Many of our ancestors sought religious freedom, freedom from persecution, or economic opportunity in America. That history is replete with conflicting policies: from the exclusion of Chinese, prejudice against those of Irish and Italian descent, and the deportation of those who were seen as “unfit” physically or mentally to enter the country, to decrees from the president that all immigrants be treated with respect.