Fever Hospitals and Fever Nurses

A British Social History of Fever Nurses: A National Service

This well researched book provides an interesting study of the development of fever hospitals and fever nursing, mainly in nineteenth and twentieth century Britain. It provides new insights into the development of nursing roles and nurse education and looks at the lives of key figures at that time.

The text examines how this once important branch of the nursing profession emerged in the nineteenth century, only to be discarded in the second half of the following century. Drawing on the work of Goffman and Foucault, the study shows how, aided by medical advances, fever nurses transformed their custodial duties into a therapeutic role and how training schemes were implemented to improve the recruitment and retention of nurses. As standards of living improved and patient’s chances of recovery increased, many fever hospitals became redundant and fever nurses were no longer required. The wisdom of creating fever hospitals and then disbanding them is questioned in the light of changing disease patterns, international travel and the threat posed by biological warfare.