Bowlby's children: The forgotten revolution in Australian children's nursing
Jeanette Wood
Department of English, Macquarie University, Sydney NSW
PP: 119 - 132
Abstract
Children's hospitals are vastly different today from fifty years ago.
Although there have been dramatic changes in treatment and environment, the biggest contrast for patients is the involvement of parents and family in the nursing and care of the children. This change is largely due to the work of two men from Great Britain, Dr John Bowlby and James Robertson, whose research findings changed the way children were nursed to include consideration of their psychological alongside physical needs. This caused a revolution in the nursing of children that spread throughout Australasia.
Bowlby and Robertson's work is largely forgotten now, but it forms the basis for the current policy of nursing children within the context of the family. This paper includes excerpts from an Australian oral history collection of twenty-six narratives from former child patients, parents and nurses and the personal papers of Dr Bowlby.
Keywords
nursing, Bowlby, children, visiting parents, psychological
References
Alsop-Shields L and Mohay H (2001) John Bowlby and James Robertson: Theorists, scientists and crusaders for improvements in the care of children in hospital. Journal of Advanced Nursing 35: 50-58.
Anon (1995) Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital Ceremony of Thanksgiving 1906-1995. Camperdown: Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, Video.
Bradley SF (1996) Processes in the creation and diffusion of nursing knowledge: An examination of the developing concept of family-centred care. Journal of Advanced Nursing 23: 722-727.
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Bowlby Notes
The following documents are Notes from the private papers of Dr John Bowlby held in the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine, 210 Euston Road, London. These excerpts are cited with the kind permission of that library:
Bowlby Dr John, Emanuel Miller, DW Winnicott, Letter, ed. British Medical Journal, London (1939).
Bowlby Dr John, Letter to the Editor, The Lancet, (10 Feb 1940).
Bowlby Dr John, A Two Year Old Goes to Hospital, Tavistock Clinic, London (1952), ed. Bowlby J and James Robertson.
Bowlby Dr John, Emotional Disturbances after Illness, (c.1955).
Bowlby Dr John, Separation Anxiety - Published Version, Tavistock Clinic, London, (March 1959).
Freud Anna, Booklet reprinted from The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child XI (1956).
Heinecke Chris, Letter to J Bowlby and J Robertson, Reiss Davis Clinic for Child Guidance, Los Angeles CA (1965).
Robertson James, The Plight of Small Children Going to Hospital, Tavistock Clinic, London (1960).
The Welfare of Children in Hospital, Report of the Committee (HMSO 1959) Ministry of Health Central Health Services Council.
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