Women Nurses and Male Physicians: Their Educational Relationships.

The implications for nursing education of the fact that nursing started as a woman's occupation in a field dominated by the male physician are considered. Although in 1873 nursing represented a real educational opportunity for large numbers of women, none of the prestigious women's colleges were interested in educating women for careers. In the nineteenth century, few medical schools demanded as much as a high school diploma for admission. Since the best physicians trained in hospitals, it was inevitable that nurses be trained there also. Hospitals expected work from the nursing students, and the system was based more on an apprenticeship model than an instructional one. Control by nurses was weak since physicians tended to administer hospitals. Nurses were taught that the physician's word was law and that they knew much more, even though the nurse constantly observed the patient and the physician was limited to short visits. Nurses who attempted to break out of the system were often punished. Patterns of subservience and feminine submissiveness led to an undervaluing of the contribution of nurses, which is reflected in the salary schedule and job prerequisites. Nursing education today can best be understood in the context of traditional and changing male-female role playing. Appended is "Nurses and Women Physicians: The Case of Ida May Wilson" (1864-1955), by Vern L. Bullough. (SW)