As one turns off Old Route 22 in Cambria County at the site of the former State Correctional Institution at Cresson (SCI Cresson), it readily becomes apparent that the facility is closed. It hasn’t been an ongoing enterprise since it ceased operations in 2013.
There are few indications that this facility was once a vital component in Pennsylvania’s anti-tuberculosis campaign.
Upon further study, several buildings appear out of place. Their architecture is more akin to that found on a hospital campus.
This peaceful setting masks the legacy of the untold story of thousands of Pennsylvania civil servants who dedicated their professional careers over several generations to treat those stricken with this illness. One of the most noteworthy was a nurse by the name of Eliza C. Allison. She served in the institution known commonly as the “Cresson San” from its opening in 1912 to her termination in 1935.
Born in Fairfax County, Virginia, she served the Commonwealth for over two decades as the Director of Nursing in one of Pennsylvania’s three tuberculosis sanatoriums. Amongst her many achievements was developing a training Institute for student nurses and pioneering a school for tuberculin children. Prior to her tenure at Cresson San, Ms. Allison’s skills were refined at the Philadelphia (PA) Home for the Incurables and the Washington (D.C.) Hospital for the Foundlings. This is where she received her training at a local nursing school.
After being replaced for reported political
Before the existence of the Great War, America had fought in previous wars. In the years before the Great War nursing was not even a word for the women who had helped with the aid of fallen soldiers. Florence Nightingale, who helped in establishing nursing as a career used her efforts in organizing an emergency nursing service (Dahlman 2). Nightingale started off at first with forty women, some of whom were Sisters of Religious Nursing Orders and others hospital-taught women of the old school, not trained in the modern way, but experienced (Dahlman 3). Florence Nightingale founded the Nightingale Training School for Nurses at St. Thomas’ Hospital which was the parent of the modern system of nursing. From her, therefore, we may well date the story of nursing service of the American Red Cross (Dahlman 4).
In the late 1800’s to 1900’s a white plague broke out in the United States called tuberculosis (TB), the need for medical attention was both high and demanding.“El Paso 's climate, characterized by mild winters, low rainfall and humidity and abundant
Nursing care was unscientific and consisted of assisting patients with usual body functions; and was typically administered by women of a religious order or by women who by nature of their lifestyle frequented hospitals. Hospital care was for the poor and destitute; since home based medical care was better than risking additional infections in the dirty, crowded, and disease-ridden hospitals. During the typhus epidemic of 1852, hospital staff and patients suffered the greatest morbidity and mortality. (Ranade , 199817-19)
Determination and great effort are some of the words that come to mind when reviewing some of the heroic acts by the great nursing pioneers. World War I brought out to light amazing people. There was great necessity for medical assistance in the battlefield and outside the battlegrounds (Nies and McEwen 2011). Mary Breckenridge is an example of the women whom influenced in medical care of the wounded during the war. Aside from establishing the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS), Mary Breckenridge moved to the rural areas following her passion to care for disadvantaged women and children (Stanhope and Lancaster,
One aspect of nursing that has changed since the early 1800’s is nursing education. There was no question about the credibility of the women providing care to soldiers after the war. For many years untrained nurses and consequently nursing students cared the sick without any supervision. In 1873, the need for educated nurses was sought but was opposed by untrained physicians who thought trained nurses would pose a threat to their jobs (Gary & Hott, 1988). “Nurses have evolved
Nurses faced great danger in hospitals because they were a breeding ground for disease. They were extremely over crowded, especially after a large battle, and because of these conditions, illnesses were spread very easily. Typhoid, malaria, and dysentery were the biggest diseases. Typhoid was the worst. One of the poorer facilities was named the “Hurly Burly House.” The patients here were enlisted men. Better quarters were reserved for sick and wounded officers. Most of the hospitals had bad ventilation, no provisions for bathing, and no dead house. Some of them had decaying wood and old carpets that were not removed. Kitchens and washrooms were described as “cold, damp, dirty, and full of vile odors from wounds.” The nurses quarters were not much better. Nurses would often work from 6am to 1am. These miserable accommodations combined with overworked and under qualified staff made hospital conditions adverse to patient welfare and therefore unsuitable for either dispensing or receiving treatment. The Sanitary Commission finally investigated and recommended
Alice Magaw was born November 9, 1860, in Cashocton, Ohio. Besides her contribution to nursing, little is known about Alice’s personal life and what inspired her to enter the field on nursing. However, one can guess that she saw a demand for nurses and had a passion for caring for others. During this time period, nursing schools were incorporated into hospitals. Alice Magaw attended the Women’s Hospital School of Nursing in Chicago from 1887 to1889, around the time that nursing began to transform from a lower class occupation to a respectable profession. After graduation Alice worked as a private duty nurse in Chicago. In 1893, Alice began her work under Dr. William J. and Charles H.
In the world today nursing plays a major role that often associates with Civil War women, due to the fame of Clara Barton. Clara later founded “the American Red Cross in 1881.” Unlike other nurses she went out to the battlefield to nurse the soldier where they have fallen. With that courageous act she became known at the “Angel of the Battlefield.” Clara was a courageous
One of the first nurses to see battle injuries was Ms. Fannie Beers who described the arrival of the first 200 soldiers at a makeshift hospital “they came with some form of disease whether on foot or stretcher, barefoot or on swollen feet”. (12) The battlefront hospitals were only that of open area sites with conditions anything but sanitary, with blood, human waste and amputated limbs covering the ground. The first battle women encountered was with their selves. Only their strong religious faith steeled them against sickening sights of disease and infection. These nurses learned to rein in their feelings and believed patients redemption hallowed their work.
As evidenced by her accomplishments in founding programs to help others, her willingness to advocate for the patient, an awareness of the need of community care, the foresight to document patients and hospital conditions, and her desire to be educated at a higher level than most, there is little doubt she would have not only met expectations of nurses in regards to the legal and ethical standards set forth by state and federal guidelines. She perhaps would have been standing in front of legislature petitioning change to improve the standards of medical care
Clara Barton is a prominent nurse leader. She provided care and supplies for troops in the Civil War and had the government pass a treaty to equally protect people internationally during wartime crises. Barton’s most widely known accomplishment was forming the American Red Cross. The organization implements her ideals of providing equal care during natural disasters and wartime crises. Barton is a prime example of a nurse due to her passion for caring and willingness to become available for those in need. Never satisfied with the bare minimum, she spent her life devoted to the care and protection of those in distress.
Miss Delano’s next experiences deal with managing 2 communicable diseases. The first in 1888 in Jacksonville, Florida, where an epidemic of yellow fever broke out. During this time of yellow fever, Miss Delano was a superintendent nurse at Sandhill’s
Florence Nightingale, or as soldiers on the battlefield would call her the “Lady with the Lamp”, was an inspirational women of the nineteenth century that had many aspirations and dreams concerning the care of others. Achieving these dreams by “facilitating the reparative processes of the body by manipulating the patient’s environment” (Potter & Perry 2009, p. 45); Nightingale laid the foundations of modern nursing and gave the country and many others a system that has stood the test and remains timeless. In this, Florence has become one of the most widely known nursing theorist to this day.
It was the twentieth century when two-thousand hospitals were put up in the United States. After the wars ended, there were few nursing jobs because of the large number of nurses. As a result, nursing became an “honorable profession,” which required college degrees. Technological advances were well thought out and processed as nursing began to thrive. People began to study an environment in which the sick healed. Scientists and doctors developed a routine that would help them study the human body more precisely.
In the fall of 1862, a war raged between the union and confederate forces at the Battle of Antietam. More than 130,000 soldiers fought, more than 22,000 were wounded. On the battlefront was a woman, Ms. Clara Barton, nicknamed the “Angel of the Battlefield”. Ms. Barton observed the strain of frontline battle, namely hunger, sickness, and wounds and once said “I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them”. (CITATION) It is this same dedication to nursing and our armed forces that drives my philosophy of nursing.