Description

Public health nursing in Canada originated with the district or traveling nurses of the 1890s, who worked solo or in pairs in outreach roles based within communities rather than attached to hospitals. The title of Public Health Nurse was established by Lillian Wald, founder of the Henry Street Settlement in NYC, in 1893.

The Victorian Order of Nurses (V.O.N.) was founded in 1897 in Canada and constituted a nationwide nursing association of district nurses, spreading the programme and securing funding to extend community-based health care into poor neighbourhoods and rural settlements.

In the 20th century, major roles of Public Health Nurses included child health and communicable disease control including monitoring and treating tuberculosis.

To learn more about Public Health Nurses, see Marion McKay, "Public Health Nursing in Early 20th Century Canada," Canadian Journal of Public Health (July/August 2009): 249-250.