Grounded in the premise that health care can and should be promoted in partnership with communities to provide quality care for all, this history analyzes the resilience and innovation of nurses who provided care for the most underprivileged populations, such as slaves on Southern plantations, immigrants in tenements in Manhattan's Lower East Side, and isolated populations in rural Kentucky.

Table of Contents

• Foreword by - Barbra Mann Wall, PhD, RN, FAAN
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Nursing in the Colonial Era and Early Days of the United States, 1607–1840 - John C. Kirchgessner
• 2. The Roots of a Profession, 1830–1865 - Arlene W. Keeling
• 3. The Rise of a Profession: “An Art and a Science,” 1873–1901 - Michelle C. Hehman
• 4. Visiting Nurses in Cities, Parishes, and Missions, 1886–1914 - Arlene W. Keeling
• 5. Professional Organizations and International Connections, 1881–1920 - Michelle C. Hehman
• 6. Organization and Innovation in the Early 20th Century, 1898–1928 - Arlene W. Keeling
• 7. Nurses, Science, and the Growth of Hospitals, 1910–1930 - Michelle C. Hehman
• 8. Nurses in the News: The Great War and Pandemic Influenza, 1914–1919 - Arlene W. Keeling
• 9. Nurses, Babies, and Public Health, 1920s - Arlene W. Keeling
• 10. Nursing in the Great Depression, 1930–1940 - Arlene W. Keeling
• 11. Nursing in World War II: Overseas and at Home, 1940–1945 - Arlene W. Keeling
• 12. Mid-Century Transitions and Shortages, 1945–1960 - John C. Kirchgessner
• 13. Specialization, War, and the Expansion of Nursing's Scope of Practice, 1961–1980 - Arlene W. Keeling
• 14. Caring in Crisis, 1980–2000 - Michelle C. Hehman
• 15. Toward a Culture of Health: Nursing in the 21st Century - Arlene W. Keeling