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“The Force Behind the Vision”: The Significance of Place in Trauma Nursing

“The Force Behind the Vision”: The Significance of Place in Trauma Nursing “TheForceBehindtheVision”:The Significanceof PlaceinTraumaNursing TrinaK.Kumodzi UniversityofVirginia In 1960, R. Adams Cowley and Elizabeth Scanlan created the Shock Trauma Unit(STU)attheUniversityofMarylandMedicalCenterinBaltimore,Mary- land. As one author noted, “[Scanlan] worked side-by-side with Cowley as the first director of nursing at the STU and was considered his partner, col- laborator, and friend. Cowley referred to [Scanlan] as the ‘force behind the vision.”’¹ This article examines the pioneering legacy of trauma nurses from 1960to2000throughtheconceptuallensofplace.ThebeginningoftheSTU in 1960 at the University of Maryland MedicalCenter provides an ideal con- text to consider the practices, negotiations, and relationships that gave rise to anursingspecialtyataparticulargeographicandsocialplace.Inthiscase,the conceptofplaceisnotonlyacityorbuildingbutalsoalocale,oraspecificset- ting in which people conducted their work amid a web of social relationships andassumptionsaboutnursingandmedicinewithinthehospitalinstitution.² Trauma nurses were a critical part of the mid-twentieth century move to establish separate spaces where they could concentrate on caring for the critically injured. They knew their nursing practice was inextricably linked to their patients’ tenuous near-death status, and all would be governed by the greatequalizer:time.Traumanursesbecameprincipalhealthcareprofessionals who worked with surgeons, physicians, and politicians to establish trauma- specifichealthcareinspecializedareas.Nurseswereabridgebetweenresources and the under-resourced. Unquestionably, the success of securing state and federalfundingfortraumacentersdependedontheworkofthenurses.³This article moves nurses from the margins to the center of the story of trauma. Nurses, most of whom were female, and surgeons, most http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Nursing History Review Springer Publishing

“The Force Behind the Vision”: The Significance of Place in Trauma Nursing

Kumodzi, Trina K.
Nursing History Review , Volume 28 (1): 15 – Sep 19, 2019
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Publisher
Springer Publishing
Copyright
© 2020 Springer Publishing Company
ISSN
1062-8061
eISSN
1938-1913
DOI
10.1891/1062-8061.28.170
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Abstract

“TheForceBehindtheVision”:The Significanceof PlaceinTraumaNursing TrinaK.Kumodzi UniversityofVirginia In 1960, R. Adams Cowley and Elizabeth Scanlan created the Shock Trauma Unit(STU)attheUniversityofMarylandMedicalCenterinBaltimore,Mary- land. As one author noted, “[Scanlan] worked side-by-side with Cowley as the first director of nursing at the STU and was considered his partner, col- laborator, and friend. Cowley referred to [Scanlan] as the ‘force behind the vision.”’¹ This article examines the pioneering legacy of trauma nurses from 1960to2000throughtheconceptuallensofplace.ThebeginningoftheSTU in 1960 at the University of Maryland MedicalCenter provides an ideal con- text to consider the practices, negotiations, and relationships that gave rise to anursingspecialtyataparticulargeographicandsocialplace.Inthiscase,the conceptofplaceisnotonlyacityorbuildingbutalsoalocale,oraspecificset- ting in which people conducted their work amid a web of social relationships andassumptionsaboutnursingandmedicinewithinthehospitalinstitution.² Trauma nurses were a critical part of the mid-twentieth century move to establish separate spaces where they could concentrate on caring for the critically injured. They knew their nursing practice was inextricably linked to their patients’ tenuous near-death status, and all would be governed by the greatequalizer:time.Traumanursesbecameprincipalhealthcareprofessionals who worked with surgeons, physicians, and politicians to establish trauma- specifichealthcareinspecializedareas.Nurseswereabridgebetweenresources and the under-resourced. Unquestionably, the success of securing state and federalfundingfortraumacentersdependedontheworkofthenurses.³This article moves nurses from the margins to the center of the story of trauma. Nurses, most of whom were female, and surgeons, most

Journal

Nursing History Review – Springer Publishing

Published: Sep 19, 2019

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