Objective: Tuberculosis was a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in early twentieth century North America and Western Europe. The 1903 finding that many asymptomatic children harbored the tubercule bacillus galvanized the nursing and medical communities and reshaped the focus of the international crusade to eliminate tuberculosis from treatment to prevention. This paper analyzes early twentieth century transnational similarities and differences in nurses’ pediatric TB prevention efforts and the nationalism embedded in their scientific underpinnings.

Design and Methods: Social history methodology was used to explicate nurses’ efforts with regard to pediatric TB prevention in the United States and Western Europe between 1900 and 1940. Primary sources included archival materials from the National Library of Medicine, the New York City Public Library the New York Academy of Medicine, and early twentieth century newspapers, journal articles, and books.

Findings: Nurses were at the center of antituberculosis campaigns. Drawing upon the efforts of other nations, nurses and public health reformers modified them to design interventions consistent with their country’s unique cultural norms and values.

Conclusions: Infectious disease prevention and management is an enduring issues nurses face no matter where in the world they practice. The early twentieth century was a frustrating time in the campaign against TB. The disease's etiology and transmission were understood but there were few effective treatments. As a result, prevention was the centerpiece of most TB public health campaigns in North America and Western Europe.

Implications: Examining the history of tuberculosis nursing care provides a unique vantage point to study the cultural dimensions of risk and prevention embedded in nursing care and the interplay between science, culture, nurses, and government in the evolution of the modern welfare state.

Back to Enduring Issues: Past Perspectives on the Future
Back to 15th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004