Diaries of District Nurses in the Netherlands of the 1970s

Abstract

In 1970 the Nederlandse Bond van Wijkverpleegsters (Dutch Association of District Nurses) decided to start a study project to counter the dominant image of district nurses, which was too much about washing patients and taking care of babies. They believed this image prevented them from being invited to sit on various boards and committees. The study project requested district nurses to keep diaries about their work, focusing specifically on the importance of the highly complex care they delivered in order to demonstrate their professionalism.
Fifteen of those diaries were found in the archive of the Museum for Nursing History FNI (Florence Nightingale Institute), the Dutch knowledge center and virtual museum on the history of nursing and care, in fall 2022. This find opened up a totally new perspective on district nursing in the 1970s but also provided new insights: Some workrelated issues were already present 50 years ago and had not changed in the ensuing years.