Nursing and Midwifery in Ireland in the Twentieth Century: Fifty Years of an Bord Altranais (The Nursing Board) 1950-2000 / by Joseph Robins, Author and Editor
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Nursing and midwifery in Ireland in the twentieth century: fifty years of an Bord Altranais (the Nursing Board) 1950-2000 / by Joseph Robins, author and editor Item Type Report Authors An Bord Altranais (ABA) Rights An Bord Altranais Download date 02/10/2021 02:24:04 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10147/46356 Find this and similar works at - http://www.lenus.ie/hse Nursing and Midwifery in Ireland in the Twentieth Century Nursing and Midwifery in Ireland in the Twentieth Century Fifty Years of An Bord Altranais (The Nursing Board) 1950 - 2000 JOSEPH ROBINS Author and Editor 3 First Published in 2000 By An Bord Altranais, Dublin, Ireland © 2000 with An Bord Altranais and the authors for their individual chapters All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. ISBN 0-953976-0-4 Cover design and typesetting by Total Graphics, Dublin Copy-editing by Jonathan Williams Printed by Colm O’Sullivan & Son (Printing) Limited, Dublin 4 Message from President McAleese have great pleasure in sending my warmest congratulations and good wishes on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of An IBord Altranais. At this important milestone of the organisation’s establishment it is appropriate to reflect on the developments which have taken place in a profession which is rightly held in such high esteem in this country. Any young woman or man who decides on a career in nursing enters an exciting, demanding world of life long learning. The past fifty years have witnessed dramatic advances in the healthcare area and nurses have been to the forefront of all new developments. By adapting to changes and acquiring additional skills and knowledge, nurses and midwives have made an invaluable contribution to improving standards of patient care. As they grow strong, confident and proficient in that complex world of medical knowledge, they must always be mindful of the equally important world of warm human relationships. I hope that in the years ahead nurses will continue to find deep personal and professional fulfilment in their vocations. I have no doubt that the nursing profession will retain the special place it has earned in the hearts of the Irish people. I would like to congratulate everyone associated with An Bord Altranais and to wish you well in your endeavours. Mary McAleese President of Ireland. November 2000 Contents Foreword 1 The Contributors 3 Introduction 7 PART ONE The Development of Nursing and Midwifery Services in Ireland 1900-2000. Chapter one The Irish Nurse in the Early 1900’s 11 Chapter two Bord Altranais 1950-1970 29 Chapter three Bord Altranais after 1970 51 Chapter four A Summing Up 69 PART TWO The Development of Nursing and Midwifery Practice in Ireland 1950-2000. Chapter five General Nursing 77 Anne-Marie Ryan Chapter six Midwifery 101 Ita O’Dwyer and Ann Louise Mulhall Chapter seven Public Health Nursing 125 Sheila Armstrong Chapter eight Psychiatric Nursing 141 Ann J. Sheridan Chapter nine Mental Handicap Nursing 163 Fintan Sheerin Chapter ten Sick Children’s Nursing 177 Antoinette Kelleher and Eileen J. Musgrave Chapter eleven Nursing Education 197 Judith Chavasse Nursing and Midwifery in Ireland in the Twentieth Century Chapter twelve Nursing in a Changing World 213 Geraldine McCarthy APPENDICES Membership of An Bord Altranais 1997-2000 236 Staff of An Bord Altranais December 2000 237 An Bord Altranais Register of Nurses at 1st January 2000 238 Views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily those of An Bord Altranais. Foreword t is a great honour for me to be President of An Bord Altranais at this time when the Board is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The establishment of IAn Bord Altranais by the enactment of the Nurses Act 1950 was a decision to bring together the Central Midwives Board for Ireland, established in 1918 and The General Nursing Council for Ireland established in 1919. I am very aware that the regulation of nurses and midwives by statute has been in place for almost one hundred years and An Bord Altranais wishes to commemorate this by the publication of ‘Nursing and Midwifery in Ireland in the Twentieth Century’. As we enter the 21st century we are witnessing the implementation of changes in the professions of nursing and midwifery in Ireland which will enhance and develop both professions. Regulatory, professional and employment issues are being comprehensively addressed and structures are being put in place to support nurses and midwives in their professional roles. It is important for future generations of nurses and midwives and others interested in social history to have a reference point at this time in the development of the professions. Last year An Bord Altranais decided that an account should be written of the events and decisions which brought us to this point in the history of nursing and midwifery. This history is an acknowledgement by An Bord Altranais of the people, including nurses and midwives, who contributed so much throughout the century to the development of both professions. It is my hope that our generation of nurses and midwives will get inspiration from this account of the work and dedication of those who went before us. I hope that their courage and dedication will be 1 a model to guide us into the next century amid all the changes taking place. An Bord Altranais has responsibility for the promotion of high standards in the education, training and practice of nurses and midwives. Quality care and patient focused practice is the hallmark of both professions. The history of regulation to date ensured that the public had confidence that such standards were underpinning the practice of the professional nurses and midwives they encountered. We nurses and midwives of this generation must use the empowerment conferred on us by that history to ensure that the highest standards of patient care continues to be the hallmark of both professions. I thank Dr. Joe Robins for writing and editing this publication. We appreciate the experience, skill, expertise and knowledge of social history he brought to the task of writing and editing. I thank the nurse and midwife contributors who have documented their personal experiences and knowledge of their own disciplines and specialities in nursing and midwifery. I thank the staff in An Bord Altranais for managing the project and for delivering to the professions a quality publication. Sheila O’Malley President, An Bord Altranais 2 Contributors The Editor JOSEPH ROBINS BComm, DipPubAd., PhD, F. Inst HospAdmin, FRIAM is a former assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Children and is a member of various voluntary boards. A social historian of note, his books include histories of charity children in Ireland, the insane in Ireland, mental handicap, epidemic disease in nineteenth century Ireland, as well as broader histories of Irish society. Other Contributors SHEILA ARMSTRONG has been a Director of Public Health Nursing under the Eastern Health Board (later the Northern Area Health Board) since 1984. She worked previously at various other levels of public health nursing. She was Assistant Education Officer at Bord Altranais in 1981/82. She held the post of Secretary/Manager, St. John’s Hospital, Limerick, 1966-69 and has a Diploma in Hospital Administration (Inst. Hosp. Admin.) and a Management Diploma for Health Professionals (IPA). JUDITH CHAVASSE BA NUI (UCD), MPhil (QUB) is Nursing Research Advisor to the Health Research Board and was formerly Director of the Department of Nursing Studies at UCD from 1975-94 She was previously Principal Tutor in the School of Nursing, Dr. Steevens’ Hospital, Dublin and has also held tutor posts in the Royal College of Nursing and in St. George’s Hospital, London. 3 Nursing and Midwifery in Ireland in the Twentieth Century ANTOINETTE KELLEHER has been Principal Nurse Tutor in Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin since 1984. She is a Daughter of Charity. She holds a Nurse Tutors Diploma from UCD and a MSc in Nursing and Health Care Management from the University of Edinburgh. Her professional career has been exclusively dedicated to the nursing care and development of sick children’s nursing. She served as a member of An Bord Altranais from 1983 to 1990. GERALDINE McCARTHY is Professor and Head of the Department of Nursing Studies at the National University of Ireland, Cork. Previously she was Research and Development Manager for Nursing at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, and held a number of other nursing positions in the UK, USA and Canada. She holds a MEd degree from TCD and MSN and PhD degrees in nursing from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. She has been a member of a number of national and EU bodies, including the Commission on Nursing, and is a ministerial nominee on the Nurse Education Forum. She has published and presented papers nationally and internationally. ANN LOUISE MULHALL MA Ed., RGN, RM, RNT, DHHSA is Midwifery Tutor, School of Midwifery, Coombe Women’s Hospital, Dublin. She was a member of the board of An Bord Altranais from 1986 to 1997 and served on its Fitness to Practice Committee, Education and Training Committee, Ad Hoc Midwives Committee and Research Development Strategy Committee. She was a member of the Executive Council of the Irish Nurses Organisation 1981-91. EILEEN J. MUSGRAVE, who has had experience as a staff nurse, ward sister and nurse tutor, worked during much of her professional career in the discipline of sick children’s nursing in the the USA, in the United Kingdom and Ireland.