The racial integration of medical and nursing associations in the United States.
Nursing associations and hospital nursing staffs integrated well before most racial integration took place in American society. In contrast, hospital medical staff integration lagged behind, and separate medical associations representing the distinctive concerns of two groups of practitioners have continued to exist. This article describes the divergent histories of these two fields and explores some reasons for these differences from a population ecology perspective. Nursing associations, unlike their medical counterparts, faced environmental constraints that made them ineffective as advocates for the economic interests of nurses. Yet, the American Nurses' Association served a more constructive role in the efforts to achieve racial integration than did the American Medical Association. More recent increases in market competition are now moving the more broadly based hospital and medical associations into a niche similar to the American Nurses' Association and giving rise to new organizations that are addressing more narrowly defined interests.
Smith
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Department of Health Administration, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122.
D001741:Black or African American; D000574:American Medical Association / Q000266:history* / Q000458:organization & administration; D000575:American Nurses' Association / Q000266:history* / Q000458:organization & administration; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology; D011822:Race Relations; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States