Daring to care: American nursing and the second wave of feminism, 1945 to the present

In the late twentieth century, a transformation in nursing occurred that aimed to end nursing's subordination to medicine and to provide nurses with greater autonomy and professional status. Many trends converged to produce this transformation, but one of the most significant was the second wave of feminism. This dissertation reveals the effect of late-twentieth century feminism on ordinary women and the extent of its reach into American society. Feminism helped to reshape the education, work and identity of virtually all nurses by the close of the century. Two distinct eras existed in the relationship between second wave feminism and nursing. The first extended from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s when equality feminism seemed to denigrate nursing but also to give some nursing leaders an analysis of gender subordination that fueled their drive for greater professional authority and autonomy. The second opened in the mid-1980s when a feminism associated with an ethic of care meshed beautifully with the desires of a broader group of nurses and infused nursing education to such a degree that virtually all new nurses would be shaped by it.; Nurses represent a much unexplored group of women in relationship to the second wave of feminism and challenge many accepted views of the history of that social movement. They expand our understanding of the second wave beyond the story of the activists and heroines to include that of ordinary women. While some nurses accepted aspects of feminism, they did not necessarily self-identify as feminists. Nonetheless, they used, developed and passed on feminist ideas. In nursing schools and in practice, some nurses institutionalized feminist beliefs, especially after 1985. Nurses transformed nursing school curricula and developed more autonomous and specialized roles in part as a result of the second wave. More importantly, nurses grounded much of this educational and work reformation in their particular understanding of feminism. The inclusion of nurses in the study of feminism contributes to a different and a fuller picture of the second wave.{09}It demonstrates the profound impact of second-wave feminism on ordinary women.