Open AccessNurses on the front line
Author(s) -
Arlene W. Keeling
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.187
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1538-8689
pISSN - 0360-4039
DOI - 10.1097/01.nurse.0000756352.39139.16
Subject(s) - pandemic , front line , work (physics) , state (computer science) , covid-19 , influenza pandemic , nursing , public relations , medicine , political science , law , mechanical engineering , disease , pathology , algorithm , computer science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , engineering
This article identifies and describes the experiences of US nurses in the 1918 influenza pandemic and compares them to nurses' experiences today as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings are based on traditional historical methods with a social history framework. Because of advances in nursing, medicine, and science, nurses' work is quite different today than it was in 1918. Yet two facts remain the same: In the setting of a pandemic of a dangerous virus for which there are few proven treatments and no vaccine, skilled nursing care is critical to patient outcomes; and support from federal, state, and local governments, community organizations, and volunteers is as important now as it was in 1918.