In 1921 the American Red Cross Chapter in Mount Desert, Maine began a public health nursing service. This nursing service became so important to the community that both year-round residents and wealthy summer residents objected when officials from the American Red Cross national headquarters directed the chapter to transfer its nursing service to another agency in 1944. The chapter had built an attractive house in the early 1930s, where the public health nurse lived and maintained a clinic. This presentation explores the community's reluctance to turn over its public health nursing service and the factors that may have influenced its eventual decision to finally comply with the national headquarters' directive in 1949, long after most American Red Cross public health nursing services had closed. Also, this paper analyzes the tensions between service provision at the local level and policy-making within a national organization. This presentation offers historical evidence of Red Cross public health nursing services throughout the 1940s in some rural areas.
Learning Objectives: 1. Describe the original purpose of the American Red Cross public health nursing services. 2. Discuss how the example of the American Red Cross Chapter in Mount Desert, Maine differed from accounts reported in secondary sources. 3. Discuss the implications of this historical research for rural health care in America in the 21st century
Keywords: History, Public Health Nursing
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.