Content area
Abstract
Community-based nurses had been at work in some Canadian cities for at least three decades by the time the Canadian Public Health Association was founded in 1910.1 Journals such as the American Journal of Nursing, the Visiting Nursing Quarterly, and the Canadian Nurse provided the profession with compelling accounts of nurses working in a variety of roles to prevent illness and promote the health of vulnerable populations such as: immigrants; the urban poor; infants and children; and isolated families living in rural and northern Canada. In 1909, school boards in Winnipeg and Hamilton employed nurses to work with school-aged children and their families.7,8 In addition to the physical inspection of children, school-based PHNs also provided health education programs to children and their families.7-9 In response to the high mortality rates associated with tuberculosis (TB) and preventable childhood illness, early PHNs also worked in communicable disease control and child health programs. Between 1901 and 1910, milk depots and child health programs organized by local charities were established in Toronto, Montreal, and Winnipeg.3,6,8 In 1905, a private donor enabled the Toronto General Hospital to employ a nurse, Christina Mitchell, to work with TB patients in their homes.6 However, the magnitude of the public health problems associated with poverty, communicable disease and lack of knowledge about prevention of illness overwhelmed the fiscal and organizational resources of charitable organizations.