Looking back: nursing care of typhoid fever

It was, not until 1895, the year the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia opened its Ingersoll Training School for Nurses, that the hospital began accepting infants onto its wards. Before that year, they weren't admitted because of the frequent severity of their illnesses and consequent rapid decline. In changing hospital policy, did the board of directors assume that the presence of skilled nurses would reduce morbidity and mortality in this population? It's reasonable to assume so. Yet such strong reliance on nurses as professionals in those early days seems to surprise many (at least many outside of nursing). In fact, in our research on nurses at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, we uncovered strong evidence that, in fact, nurses both practiced independently and worked collaboratively with physicians. Using data from the annual reports of the hospital and other primary and secondary sources from the years between 1895 and 1910, we examined the nursing care of patients with typhoid fever (a disease we chose because of its prevalence at that time and the attention it received in the nursing and medical literature). We found that it was nurses who saved lives. Then, as now, expert nursing care and collaboration with medical colleagues ensured optimal outcomes. A better understanding of the historic importance of the professional bedside nurse may improve our ability to attract and retain nurses: so important today. By achieving this, we may be able to improve the practice environment and, ultimately, patient care. (Quotes from original text