In 1886, Newark City Hospital opened a training school for nurses in New Jersey. With the dawn of a new century women began to demand rights that had been denied them, and nurses too demanded changes in health care and higher education. For the first time, On Duty offers a highly readable account of the struggle for professional autonomy by New Jersey nurses and reveals how their political and legislative battles mirrored the struggle of women throughout the country to redefine their roles in society.

In Anton Boisen: Madness, Mysticism, and the Origins of Clinical Pastoral Education, Sean J. LaBat provides a critical re-assessment of Anton Boisen’s life and work. Based in thorough archival research, LaBat argues that Boisen, who suffered from intermittent severe mental illness, was a creative visionary, a mystic who re-imagined pastoral care and envisioned possibilities for the institutionalized other than shame and stigma. He shows how Boisen elucidated new possibilities in patient-centered health care, community care for the mentally ill, and reconciliation and dialogue between religion and science. Boisen explored the borderland of madness and mysticism, illness and inspiration, and practiced an interdisciplinary approach to his craft that is surprisingly modern and more relevant to the practice of medicine and the practice of religion than ever before.

Palliative medicine was first recognised as a specialist field in 1987. One hundred years earlier, London based doctor William Munk published a treatise on 'easeful death' that mapped out the principles of practical, spiritual, and medical support at the end of life. In the intervening years a major process of development took place which led to innovative services, new approaches to the study and relief of pain and other symptoms, a growing interest in 'holistic' care, and a desire to gain more recognition for care at the end of life. This book traces the history of palliative medicine, from its nineteenth-century origins, to its modern practice around the world. It takes in the changing meaning of 'euthanasia', assesses the role of religious and philanthropic organisations in the creation of homes for the dying, and explores how twentieth-century doctors created a special focus on end of life care. To Comfort Always traces the rise of clinical studies, academic programmes and international collaborations to promote palliative care. It examines the continuing need to support development with evidence, and assesses the dilemmas of unequal access to services and pain relieving drugs, as well as the periodic accusations of creeping medicalization within the field. This is the first history of its kind, and the breadth of information it encompasses makes it an essential resource for those interested in the long-term achievements of palliative medicine as well as the challenges that remain.

An engaging study of the dilemmas faced by American nursing, which examines the ideology, practice, and efforts at reform of both trained and untrained nurses in the years between 1850 and 1945. Ordered to Care provides an overall history of nursing's development and places that growth within the context of topical questions raised by women's history and the social history of health care. Building upon extensive use of primary and quantitative data, the author creates a collective portrait of nursing, from the work of the individual nurse to the political efforts of its organizations. Dr Reverby contends that nursing's contemporary difficulties are caused by its historical obligation to care in a society that refuses to value caring. She examines the historical consequences of this critical dilemma and concludes with a discussion of why nursing will have to move beyond its obligation to care, and what the implications of this change would be for all of us.

The beginning of the twentieth century marked the rise of advanced medical technologies, allowing doctors to diagnose and treat diseases in new ways. Although American physicians accepted the validity of the new science of medicine, they were sometimes reluctant to trust technology over their professional judgment or intuition. Likewise, patients raised their own suspicions about the new scientific tools, sometimes resisting or contradicting the advice of their physicians. Here Christopher Crenner examines a critical period in medical history, focusing on the office practice of Boston physician Richard Cabot. Intimate epistolary exchanges between Cabot and his patients shed light on the challenges presented by the new technologies—especially their impact on the personal relationships between doctor and patient—providing insight into a time of expanding science and radical change.

The long history of medical care for the dying has largely been neglected. It began in 1605 when physicians were challenged to enable persons to die peacefully. Today it includes palliation of oppressive symptoms, emotional and psychological care, and respect for the wishes and cultural backgrounds of patients and families. Especially since the 1990s, it embraces symptom-easing palliation for patients with severe life-limiting and chronic illnesses. Providing a detailed picture of contemporary palliative care, this book chronicles four centuries of the quest for a good death, covering the fight against futile end-of-life treatments, the history of life-extending treatments and technologies, the roles of nurses, the liberation of the dying from isolation in hospitals and hard-won victories to secure patients' right to choose.

This book weaves a web with strands that connect a favorite saint, an American revolution in stained glass design, a west-coast cultural renaissance, and a now obscure Swedish scientist and theologian. With beautiful photographs and prose, it brings to life the art and science of art conservation as dedicated people of various talents and interests struggle to preserve a cherished part of America's cultural heritage. --------------- Just as Porter cut glass and shaped lead when he first created his legendary stained glass, Douglas Stinson and Ariana Makau have fashioned and formed an artistic story of its restoration more than a century later. Revealing the modern techniques of restitution craftsmanship against the backdrop of significant San Francisco history, this book is its own work of art." James Lawrence, Assistant Professor of Spirituality, Graduate Theological Union and Dean of the Swedenborgian House of Studies.