Sir Henry Parkes and the Relationships That Enabled Nightingale Nursing to Advance Mental Healthcare in Nineteenth Century Australia.

This position paper explores famous colonial Australian politician Sir Henry Parkes use of relationships to reform colonial Australian mental healthcare by facilitating the integration of Nightingale-trained nurses into hospitals for the insane in the late nineteenth century. A review of historical sources including primary documents reveals that Parkes exhibited astute political skill by developing relationships with influential healthcare leaders such as Florence Nightingale, Lucy Osburn and Dr. Frederic Norton Manning.