E. Hospitals and Nursing

4845. Chesney, Alan M. The Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, a chronicle. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, 1943. 318 p. SG44–2 R747.J62C5

With approximately 30 years of service at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and School of Medicine, where he progressed from student, instructor, and associate professor to dean, Dr. Chesney has combined his years of experience with the official records of both institutions to write their history from the incorporation of the University and the Hospital in 1867 to the opening of the School of Medicine in 1893. This first volume was published on the 50th anniversary of the opening of the School of Medicine, but the second volume, interrupted by the war years, has not appeared. Dr. Chesney tells the story of the unusual trust created by Johns Hopkins, and the careers of great figures of American medicine—John Shaw Billings, William H. Welch, William Osler, William S. Halsted, Franklin B. Mall, and others—as they assisted in the organization and development of a University unique in the medical annals of the United States. Richard H. Shryock in his brochure, The Unique Influence of the Johns Hopkins University on American Medicine (Copenhagen, Munksgaard, 1953. 77 p.), tells how well the foundation had been laid for future growth in these words: "To Hopkins … the country was indebted after 1890 for a veritable revolution in the nature and status of medical sciences—with all that this implied for human welfare. This was a development of major importance in the social and cultural life of the nation, and the meaning of the Hopkins epic is missed if these wider relationships and consequences are ignored. Here is a tradition which should and will be maintained, no doubt in changing forms adapted to changing circumstances." The history of The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, 1889–1949, by Ethel Johns and Blanche Pfefferkorn (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, 1954. 416 p.), rounds out the story of this medical center.

4846. Columbia University. New York State Hospital Study. A pattern for hospital care; final report … by Eli Ginzberg. New York, Columbia University Press, 1949. xxiv, 368 p. 49–50231 RA981.N7C6 1949

This study is a report by Columbia University to the Joint Survey and Planning Commission on the present and potential financial position of the voluntary general hospital in New York State. Requests from leaders of voluntary hospital groups for State aid, and the responsibility of the Commission "for developing a long-range construction program to provide facilities which would insure adequate hospital, clinic, and related services for all the people of the State," gave impetus to the study. It seeks to provide a basis for the allocation of Federal funds to construct, expand, or rebuild hospitals in designated areas. In addition to questions concerning the financial position of voluntary general hospitals, the study explores the major challenges whichconfront those hospitals within the next few years, the role of municipal hospitals, and the problems of providing care for patients suffering from chronic diseases, tuberculosis, or mental diseases. It suggests action that can be taken on an individual, communal, and State level to improve the present system and to insure its sound development. In the last chapter the responsibilities of the various organizations in New York State for hospital care are outlined and suggestions offered for an integrated program.

4847. Commission on Hospital Care. Hospital care in the United States; a study of the function of the general hospital, its role in the care of all types of illness, and the conduct of activities related to patient service, with recommendations for its extension and integration for more adequate care of the American public. New York, Commonwealth Fund, 1947. xxiv, 631 p. Med 47–56 RA981.A2C57

Includes bibliographies.

In October 1944 the American Hospital Association organized its Commission on Hospital Care in order to make a comprehensive survey of hospitals and determine their part in the postwar life of America. Its report discusses the trends in administration and organization that underlie the future development of hospital service, and describes the factors which affect the size and use of hospital facilities and the need for them. It analyzes the physical, service, and financial aspects of existing hospitals. From the pilot project set up in Michigan to serve as a pattern for study in other states, it derives suggestions for the integration of specialized services in the general hospital, and an estimate of additional facilities necessary to provide adequate service to the public. A final section presents methods of financing hospital care, the legal status of hospitals, and their interrelations with governmental and voluntary health agencies. The U. S. Public Health Service cooperated with the Commission in collecting the data for this survey: "The arrangement was unique in that it established a means whereby a voluntary and a governmental agency collaborated in the study and analysis of a public problem." As a sequel to this work the Commission on Financing of Hospital Care was established in November 1951, "to study the costs of providing adequate hospital services and to determine the best systems of payment for such services." The results of that study were published as Financing Hospital Care in the United States (New York, Blakiston, 1954–55.3 v.). Volume 1 deals with "Factors Affecting the Costs of Hospital Care;" volume 2, "Prepayment and the Community;" volume 3, "Financing Hospital Care for Nonwage and Low-Income Groups."

4848. Corwin, Edward H. L. The American hospital. New York, Commonwealth Fund, 1946. 226 p. (New York Academy of Medicine. Committee on Medicine and the Changing Order. Studies.) SG 46–293 RA981.A2C6

"References" at the end of each chapter.

The adaptation of anesthesia to operative procedures in the 1840’s, the development of new techniques and clinical laboratories, the concentration of population in cities and the popular acceptance of hospitalization insurance plans, and the accumulation and distribution of wealth have all stimulated the growth of general and specialized hospitals. From 178 in 1873, the year in which the first list of hospitals in the United States was published, the number had increased to 6,655 in 1943, the year in which the Committee on Medicine and the Changing Order began its study. The author, who was executive secretary of the Committee on Public Health Relations of the New York Academy of Medicine, examines all phases of the American hospital—ownership, finance, geographical distribution, training of nurses and interns, organization of medical services including outpatient departments, and hospital architecture. The American hospital, he concludes, "has not adjusted itself adequately to the income levels of all groups of people or to the needs of all geographic areas. It has not uniformly reached the level of excellence it is potentially capable of achieving." In his final chapter he offers a whole series of practical suggestions calculated to promote these ends.

4849. McGibony, John R. Principles of hospital administration. New York, Putnam, 1952. 540 p. 52–11467 RA971.M247

The chief of the Division of Medical and Hospital Resources, U. S. Public Health Service (1949–53) describes, among other functions of hospital administration, methods of measuring community needs for hospital services, and raising funds for construction. The principles of functional hospital design and organization will be of special help to those interested in efficient operation. The book fills a need in hospital literature for trustees, administrators, doctors, nurses, and students.

4850. Morton, Thomas G. The history of the Pennsylvania Hospital, 1751–1895. Publication authorized by the contributors at their annual meeting, May 1893, and directed by the Board of Managers. Philadelphia, Times Print. House, 1895. 575 p. 9–1727 RA982.P5P47

The Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia,founded in 1751, is the oldest institution intended solely for the care of the sick and injured in the United States. The idea of establishing a hospital was conceived by Dr. Thomas Bond, who, with the assistance of Benjamin Franklin and others, raised funds among their fellow citizens for the support of the hospital. Compiled from original documents, the History contains a chapter on the treatment of the mentally ill whose cause was championed by Benjamin Rush. The maintenance of a community hospital by public subscription provided a pattern for the future development of hospitals in the United States.

4851. New York Academy of Medicine. Committee on Public Health Relations. Infant and maternal care in New York City; a study of hospital facilities. Edward H. L. Corwin, general director of study. New York, Columbia University Press, 1952. xv, 188 p. 52–11549 RG962.N4N4 1952

This study illustrates the concern of a metropolitan community for the health and welfare of its children. A team consisting of an obstetrician, a pediatrically trained nurse, and a pediatrician visited 104 hospital maternity services in New York City. This report presents the facts which they obtained concerning every aspect of the lying-in and nursing services in the hospitals of the city. Specific shortcomings are summarized in the last chapter as a basis for the improvements to be desired.

4852. Roberts, Mary M. American nursing; history and interpretation. New York, Macmillan, 1954. 688 p. 54–12563 RT4.R6

Bibliographies at end of chapters.

The author, editor emeritus of the American Journal of Nursing, selects 1900, the year of the Journal’s founding, and 1952, when the unification of several nursing associations was completed, as the termini of her history of American nursing. The first two chapters picture the American scene at and before the turn of the century and describe the influence of Florence Nightingale, and certain military and religious groups, on the profession in the United States. The transition from private duty to public health nurse, the growing recognition of the practical nurse as part of the nursing profession, the genesis and growth of nursing schools and professional organizations, and wartime duties and peace-time services are interpreted against changes in economic and social concepts, and scientific improvements. The part nurses play in the World Health Organization and international health programs is the subject of the last chapter. The author points out that the development of international nursing activities is a challenge to those nurses who believe that "anything that contributes to the exchange of creative ideas across boundary lines contributes to the welfare of mankind."

4853. Washburn, Frederic A. The Massachusetts General Hospital; its development, 1900–1935. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1939. 643 p. 39–17718 RA982.B7M53

Officers of the Massachusetts General Hospital: p. 576–633.

The director emeritus of the Massachusetts General Hospital tells its story during the period of its greatest growth, relating events that occurred prior to 1900 only when they have not appeared in earlier histories, or have been found pertinent to developments that followed the turn of the century. The General Hospital, which cared only for the poor in 1900, expanded its plant by the addition of the unique Baker Memorial for the benefit of people of moderate means, and the Phillips House for those well able to pay more than the cost of their care. By 1935, with its Out-Patient Department and its services for the mentally ill at McLean, the Hospital was caring for all groups in the community. Changes in administration which provided a more functional organization are described, with the consequent growth of research, the formation of special clinics, and the improvement of facilities for patients, for the investigation of disease, and for the teaching of medicine. Dr. Washburn has written not only an interesting account of the Hospital, but also a "vital chapter in the history of the progress of medical science and administration."

4854. Yost, Edna. American women of nursing. Rev. ed. Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1955. xxiii, 197 p. 55–3216 RT34.Y7 1955

CONTENTS.—M. Adelaide Nutting.—Lillian Wald. Annie M. Goodrich.—Isabel M. Stewart.—Sister M. Olivia Gowan.—Estelle Massey Osborne.—Florence G. Blake.—Anne Prochazka.—Theodora A. Floyd.—Lucile Petry Leone. Modern nursing in the United States was inspired by the services of Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War. Supported by the democratic action of a group of women in New York City who banded together and made a public appeal for funds, the first nurses’ training school "to be based definitely on Miss Nightingale’s uncompromising doctrine which insisted on the need for full authority for the matron or superintendent of the school who must be a nurse, not a physician or layman," was opened at Bellvue Hospital on May 1, 1873. The author has chosen for inclusion in this book the lives of interesting women whose stories tell something of the problems and struggles which have confronted the nursing profession. "They have done a good job, they are women of whom democracy may well be proud."