Themes
Theme 1: Profession, identity and ideology
Papers could include:
- reports on studies in the history of the emergence of modern nursing and midwifery and their relationship with society
- the development of nursing as an academic discipline and its role in and relationship with academia
- disciplinary boundaries and disciplinary policing
- the public image of nursing and nursing’s self-image
- studies in the history of specialist areas of practice, such as intellectual disability nursing, fever nursing, tuberculosis nursing, family nursing, school nursing, and public health nursing
- studies of individuals whose practice was seen as different and who contributed significantly to the development of nursing
- the experiences of nurses as migrants
- studies in the role of religious ideas in the development of nursing;
- religious influences on the formation of nursing services and nursing in missionary work
Theme 2: Systems of care and ways of working
Papers could include:
- studies in the history of the development of systems of nursing care and/or healthcare, such as new ways of practising nursing
- studies in the development of midwifery practice
- the development of expanded roles, such as family health nurse or nurse-practitioner roles
- histories of workforce issues, such as nursing shortages, trade union organization, ‘manpower planning’, migration, recruitment and retention issues, and histories of industrial action
- studies in the development of child health services and children’s nursing practice
- studies in the development of mental health services and mental health nursing practice
Theme 3: Biography and place
Papers could include:
- biographical studies of nurses, midwives, and other health professionals who left a particular mark on their disciplines
- biographies of little-known individuals whose ideas and practices exemplified what is valued in nursing and midwifery
- institutional histories, including histories of hospitals, and other healthcare institutions, and histories of professional associations or private bodies, such as philanthropic associations
- studies in historical geography, as they relate to people, institutions, health and healthcare
Theme 4: Military history, conflict and power
Papers could include:
- studies in aspects of military history including military nursing
- studies on the influence of war and conflict on the development of nursing and health care practices
- studies of the role of nurses as policy makers and politicians at local, national, and international levels, (e.g. nursing at the World Health Organization, in US Congress and in the European Union)
Theme 5: Technology and the patient
Papers could include:
- studies of the role of nursing in developing and implementing new healthcare technologies, such as vaccination programmes, physical treatments (e.g. ECT, deep insulin therapy, light treatment), technical devices (e.g. calipers, cardiac pacemakers, infusion pumps), information technology as a patient teaching medium
- the nurse as mediator of technology at the patient-treatment interface
- studies in the development of modern midwifery practice/obstetric nursing practice
- the role of science in childbirth
- the development of independent midwifery practice/obstetric nursing practice
