Mental health nursing in the 1950s and 1960s revisited

From the post-War period to the 1960s, immense changes took place in the philosophy, organization and delivery of mental health care in the UK. These changes were driven by the financial burden that Bevan's National Health Service imposed on the British Government, by the dynamism and vision of psychiatrists and mental health nurses returning from the War, and by a new social and cultural consciousness, which put minority groups such as the mentally ill onto the political agenda. This paper seeks to explore some of these complex interactions and to show how the closure of mental hospitals was the inevitable outcome of movements both inside psychiatry and far beyond it. An awareness of the historical context of mental health care can assist planners and providers to avoid the many pitfalls that have been made by our predecessors.     

Change and challenge. ICN during the 1970s & 1980s

NEW leadership, new goals and a new found fiscal stability helped the International Council of Nurses (ICN) greatly expand its influence in international nursing during the decades of the 1970s and 1980s. While improving the socio-economic and professional welfare of nurses remained a top priority for the organisation, ICN also increased its involvement in other global health matters. ICN was challenged by issues ranging from the apartheid policies of South Africa to nuclear testing to the emergence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.     

Change and Challenge ICN During the 1970s & 1980s

NEW leadership, new goals and a new found fiscal stability helped the International Council of Nurses (ICN) greatly expand its influence in international nursing during the decades of the 1970s and 1980s. While improving the socio-economic and professional welfare of nurses remained a top priority for the organisation, ICN also increased its involvement in other global health matters. ICN was challenged by issues ranging from the apartheid policies of South Africa to nuclear testing to the emergence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.