Medicine/Behavioral Science

an on-line book by Bob Arnebeck with companion essays and primary documents

Plus
A Short History of Yellow Fever in the US
And, my thoughts on Fever 1793 Laurie Halse Anderson's, novel for young readers,

It is offered here as an historical and cultural appreciation of nursing somewhat after the Nightingale era of reform (approximately forty years after the Crimean War, during a prosperous phase of an ongoing Industrial Revolution with its attendant urbanization, rise of the middle class, smug self-, class-, and national-consciousness), but distinctly before the development of more modern attitudes regarding Woman's "Place" and Woman's Work, and the more fulsome professionalisation and empowerment of Nursing. The views expressed herein are in my opinion are transitional and as generally supportive of nursing as it was probably possible to be in its own era, however amusing or outrageous we might personally find some of the quaint and dated comments to be. We can be pleased, but I hope also inspired, by realisation of how far we have come as we try to continue our progress, or but maintain it in this era of "restructuring." We should spare some kindly and proud thoughts also at how nurses in the pre-modern era had themselves come so far from the truly hideous conditions of a past still within memory when this was written.

Medicine has made tremendous progress in the 20th century. Information provided in this museum are on medicines, drugs & substances
which were in use during late 19th & early 20th century; the most important period for basic advancement of modern medicine, manufactured by nearly 148 manufacturers around the globe, in collection with a pharmacy established in 1912.

The mission of CAHN is to promote interest in the history of nursing and to develop scholarship in the field.

In 1925, when Mary Breckinridge established the Frontier Nursing Service and built Wendover, this marked the first effort to professionalize midwifery in the United States. Within the thematic framework of the National Historic Landmark Program, Wendover, the national headquarters of the Frontier Nursing Service, has national significance under theme XIII. Science: (F) Medicine (1.) Clinical Specialties.
Up until the 1930s, an American woman was more likely to die in childbirth than from any other disease, except tuberculosis. The mortality rate was particularly high for pregnant women in rural areas where hospitals and qualified medical care were scarce. Breckinridge recognized this concern and succeeded in one of the pioneering attempts to bring professionalized health care to rural-America.

In 1980 the American Society of Post Anesthesia Nurses (ASPAN) was born of the need for education specific to perianesthesia care. ASPAN has continued to prosper with membership over 5,600 in 1989. Through ASPAN other avenues of growth have occurred which include a bimonthly journal devoted to perianesthesia nursing, a bimonthly newsletter, annual conferences, and an opportunity to become certified in this specialty of nursing.

The Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry, established at the University of Virginia in 1991 to support historical scholarship in nursing, is dedicated to the preservation and study of nursing history in the United States. The goals of the Center include the collection of materials, the promotion of scholarship, and the dissemination of historical research findings.

The Research Materials Used to Write
"The Official Plan to Eliminate the Midwife"

The following historical account comes primarily from documents published in professional journals between 1900 and 1930. The majority of the material was published in the "Transactions for the Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality" 1910 -- 1915. This archival material records the historical blueprint of an official campaign to do away with the independent practice of midwives. Also faithfully recorded in these journals was the efficacy of care by midwives of the era, the history of the school for midwives in New York City and its excellent statistics, and the increase in maternal and infant mortality that occurred as midwives were progressively eliminated from practice. These documents, written at a time when women did not have the right to vote, were intended for "professional eyes only".