Arlene W. Keeling – författare

For over 400 years, a diverse array of nurses, nurses’ aides, midwives, and public-minded citizens across the United States have attended to the health care of America’s equally diverse populations. Beginning in 1607 when the first Englishmen landed in Virginia, and concluding in 2016 when Flint, Michigan, was declared to be in a state of emergency, this expansive nursing history text for undergraduate and graduate nursing programs examines the history of the nursing profession to help the reader better understand how nursing became what it is today.Grounded in the premise that health care can and should be promoted in partnership with communities to provide quality care for all, this history analyzes the resilience and innovation of nurses who provided care for the most underprivileged populations, such as slaves on Southern plantations, immigrants in tenements in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and isolated populations in rural Kentucky. It takes into account issues of race, class, and gender, and the influence of these factors on nurses and patients.Featuring nearly 300 photos, oral histories, and personal accounts from varied settings in the United States and other countries, the narrative discusses major medical and scientific advances, prominent leaders and grassroots movements in nursing, and ethical dilemmas that nurses faced with each change in the profession. Chapters include discussion questions for class sessions as well as a list of suggested reading.KEY FEATURES:Examines the history of nursing during the past four centuriesLinks challenges for nurses in the past to those of present-day nursesIncludes oral histories, medical discoveries, legal and ethical issues, personal perspectives, archival sites, discussion questions, suggested reading, and abundant notesCovers drugs, technological innovations, and scientific advances in each era

The Nurses of Ellis Island: Life and Work inside the Golden Door tells the story of the nurses who offered hope and healing to some of America’s most vulnerable patients. In the once-modern hospital complex on the southwest side of Ellis Island, a small group of nurses from the U.S. Public Health Service expertly cared for more than 150,000 patients of all ages and backgrounds, suffering from every imaginable illness and injury. These nurses, who lived and worked in the hospital built between the Main Immigration Building and the Statue of Liberty, learned to embrace their roles as both compassionate caregivers and agents of the state, all while navigating the impact of major sociopolitical events that included two world wars, a global pandemic, and increasingly restrictive immigration legislation. Drawing from government records, archival sources, and newly uncovered memoirs from the nurses themselves, award-winning authors and accomplished nurse historians Michelle Hehman and Arlene Keeling reconstruct the lived experience of nursing on Ellis Island during the first half of the twentieth century. This tale of nursing at its finest is a stunning narrative of triumph and tragedy that brings to life the largely invisible yet indispensable work of nursing at the intersection of immigration and public health policy.