Maine Nursing: Interviews and History on Caring and Competence - Paperback

by Juliana L'Heureux (Author), Ann Sossong (Author), Susan Henderson (Author)

From combating infant mortality to working on the front lines during the AIDS epidemic, this is a tale of Maine's heroic nurses throughout history.

Maine nurses have served tirelessly as caregivers and partners in healing at home and abroad, from hospitals to battlefields. The Division of Public Health Nursing and Child Hygiene was established in 1920 to combat high rates of infant mortality in Washington and Aroostook Counties. During the Vietnam War, Maine nurses helped build the Twelfth Evacuation Hospital at Cu Chi and bravely assisted surgeries in the midst of fighting. In the early 1980s, nurse disease prevention educators in Portland rose to the challenge of combating the growing AIDS epidemic. Through historical anecdotes and fascinating oral histories, discover the remarkable sacrifices and achievements of Maine's nurses.

Author Biography

Valerie A. Hart is a Professor of Nursing at the University of Southern Maine, in Portland, Maine and has been a psychotherapist in private practice continuously since 1978. She is the author of Patient-Provider communications: Caring to Listen, published by Jones Bartlett (2010). Susan Henderson taught nursing for thirty-five years at Saint Joseph's College of Maine until retiring in 2011. While a faculty member she worked as a per diem staff nurse at local hospitals and a long term care facility. She served two terms as president of ANA-Maine and was appointed by the governor to the Advisory Council of the Maine Quality Forum of Dirigo Health. Juliana L'Heureux is a free-lance writer and former home care and hospice administrator. Her published articles have appeared in multiple nursing magazines and newspapers, and she served as editor of the ANA-Maine Nursing Journal for two years. Ann Sossong has practiced in the field of nursing for forty plus years in multiple nursing roles in clinical practice, and as a nurse executive, nurse researcher and educator. She is a Professor of Nursing at the University of Maine School of Nursing at Orono. She has presented her research at international and national Nursing conferences, and she was instrumental in the establishment of the Maine Nursing Practice Consortium with its emphasis on evidence based practice and nursing research.