To improve the training of nurses in France: the manuals published as teaching-aids, 1775-1895.

Abstract

From 1775 to the beginning of the 20th century, many doctors and clergymen published manuals in France to instruct religious women and nurses about their tasks and duties in caring for the sick. This article examines 10 such documents produced during three different periods, each reflecting the priorities of their time. Initially, from 1775-1815, the manuals were to serve in courses proposed to train nurses, courses that were refused by successive French governments. In the second period, 1816-69, they continued to be published as self-help manuals. By the third period, 1870-95, as nursing courses finally began to be set up, the new manuals reflected the new scientific and medical breakthroughs.