Leading the American Academy of Nursing: A historical review of the Presidents' words and actions on "rationality," inclusivity, and health policy, 1973 to 2023.

Background: Little has been written about the history of the American Academy of Nursing (Academy). An examination of the association's origins, purpose, early goals, and leaders' words and accomplishments can illuminate the organization's role within the profession today.

Purpose: This paper begins the process of documenting the Academy's history.

Nurses on the front line: The 1918 influenza and COVID-19 pandemics.

Due to advances in science and medicine, nursing is far different today than it was in 1918. During a pandemic, however, skilled nursing care remains critical to patient outcomes. This article identifies and describes the experiences of US nurses during the 1918 influenza pandemic and compares them to the experiences of nurses responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nurses on the front line: The 1918 influenza pandemic and COVID-19.

This article identifies and describes the experiences of US nurses in the 1918 influenza pandemic and compares them to nurses' experiences today as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings are based on traditional historical methods with a social history framework. Because of advances in nursing, medicine, and science, nurses' work is quite different today than it was in 1918.

Babies at the Border: Reflections on Nursing on Ellis Island.

: Updated several times a week with posts by a wide variety of authors, AJN's blog Off the Charts allows us to provide more timely-and often more personal-perspectives on professional, policy, and clinical issues. Best of the Blog will be a regular column to draw the attention of AJN readers to posts we think deserve a wider audience. To read more, please visit: www.

Living in the epilepsy treatment gap in rural South India: A focused ethnography of women and problems associated with stigma.

In India, women with epilepsy face unique challenges. A focused ethnography of six women within the epilepsy treatment gap was conducted in rural South India. Women were asked to describe their day-to-day lives.

Historical Perspectives on an Expanded Role for Nursing.

The 2010 Institute of Medicine report, the Future of Nursing, recommended that nurses work to the "full extent of their training" to address the primary healthcare needs of United States citizens. This article identifies and describes historical antecedents, cornerstone documents, and legislative acts that served to set the stage for today, laying the groundwork for an expanded role for advanced practice nurses in the 21st century. Beginning with Lillian Wald's work in Henry Street Settlement in 1893, through Mary Breckenridge's founding of the Frontier Nursing Service in 1925, the discussion describes how nurses provided access to care for thousands of urban and rural citizens throughout the United States in the past.

Using nursing history to inform decision-making: Infectious diseases at the turn of the 20th century.

Background: This historical paper examines the impact of infectious diseases on the urban poor of Chicago and New York a century ago, before most vaccines were developed.

Purpose: Working on the front lines of health promotion and health care, nurses and other providers are charged with informing the public about offered vaccines. The intent of this paper is to supplement providers' knowledge about vaccination with an appreciation of the devastation these diseases once caused.

Frontier nurse-midwives and antepartum emergencies, 1925 to 1939.

This article examines how the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS) utilized nurse-midwives to respond to antepartum emergencies such as preterm birth, eclampsia, malpresentation, and hemorrhage in the women of Appalachia in the years 1925 to 1939. Particular attention is given to the preparation that nurse-midwives received during their midwifery education to prevent and respond to emergencies. Using traditional historical research methods and primary source material from the FNS papers in the Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington, Kentucky, this article describes the nurse-midwives' experiences and how they implemented skills they had learned during their training in Great Britain.

Marfan syndrome teaching algorithm: does it make a difference?

Marfan Syndrome (MFS) is an autosomal dominant, connective tissue disorder that is due to a deficiency in the structural protein, fibrillin. MFS patients are more likely to experience aortic aneurysms and dissections, dislocated lens, and/or severe musculoskeletal deformities than non-MFS patients. Attainment of a longer lifespan in MFS patients is directly dependent on vigilant blood pressure (BP) control, frequent cardiology surveillance, annual eye exams and frequent dental hygiene visits.

Addressing disparities in access to care: lessons from the Kercheval Street clinic in the 1960s.

Health disparities for racial and ethnic minorities have been present in the United States and persist today. NMHCs (Nurse-Managed Health Center), which can serve as "Medical Homes," are one mechanism by which nurses can attempt to overcome these disparities within communities. In the mid-1960s, Nancy Milio developed and found funding for a NMHC to address disparities in Detroit, Michigan.

"Alert to the necessities of the emergency": U.S. nursing during the 1918 influenza pandemic.

In 1918, excellent nursing care was the primary treatment for influenza. The disease was not well understood, and there were no antiviral medications to inhibit its progression or antibiotics to treat the complicating pneumonia that often followed. The social, cultural, and scientific context of the times shaped the profession's response.

Finance and faith at the Catholic Maternity Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1944-1969.

In 1944, the Medical Mission Sisters opened the Catholic Maternity Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico, primarily to serve patients of Spanish American descent. The Maternity Institute offered nurse-midwifery care and functioned as a school to train nurse-midwifery students. Originally planned as a home birth service, the Catholic Maternity Institute soon evolved into a service in which patients chose whether to deliver in their own homes or in a small freestanding building called La Casita.

'When the city is a great field hospital': the influenza pandemic of 1918 and the New York city nursing response.

Aims And Objectives: To describe and analyse the nurses' role in responding to the influenza epidemic in New York City in 1918.

Background: Today the world is facing the threat of pandemic avian influenza and there is renewed interest in lessons learned from the influenza pandemic of 1918, one of the deadliest disease outbreaks recorded in history. Much of the published history has been written from a medical or military perspective.