"Monthly" nurses, "sick" nurses, and midwives in 19th-century Toronto, 1830-1891.
In the decades before formal training, nursing in English Canada was carried out by untrained women and a few men, of varying skill and respectability. Little is known of their lives. Using Toronto as a case study, this paper explores the development of nursing in the 19th-century city as a trade for working-class women. As Toronto grew and industrialized, opportunity grew for working-class women to nurse for pay. This paper considers the range of expertise and respectability of nurses working in city homes and hospitals, explores the fluid nature of nursing roles, and the changing definition of "nurse" over time.
Young
Judith
J
University of Toronto, Faculty of Nursing.
D002170:Canada; D049672:History, 19th Century; D009729:Nursing / Q000639:trends; D019037:Urban Health Services / Q000266:history*