Nursing the Province Back to Health: Spanish Influenza and its Impact on Saskatchewan Women
Date
2023-09-13
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
0009-0002-7637-1994
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
In 1918, the world experienced a pandemic that was unlike any that came before it. A truly global event, Spanish influenza was incubated and mutated in the trenches of the First World War and was shipped across oceans and permeated across borders in the bodies of returning military men. It gained massive coverage in local and international newspapers and was exploited by patent medicine companies to hawk their remedies. In Saskatchewan, Spanish influenza deeply impacted both urban and rural communities, taking thousands of lives in three short months. Surprised by the severity of the diseases, the province’s Bureau of Public Health was quickly overwhelmed. Using social and digital history methodologies to analyze digitized newspaper, trade journals and other online sources, I argue that the labour of Saskatchewan women was a critical yet deeply undervalued aspect of the province’s pandemic response. The pandemic of 1918 not only highlighted the role that women played in their communities but also exposed the gaps and failings of Saskatchewan’s healthcare system, reigniting conversations around practical or “second tier” nurses. The volunteer attendants, women with no formal nursing training, entered homes to care for the sick, keep the fires lit, cook meals and care for children. These attendants provided a framework for a new healthcare provider that was introduced in the province in 1920. I argue that Saskatchewan’s failed nursing-housekeeper program was born from the province’s pandemic response and further undervalued women’s labour by undermining the physical, social, and economic autonomy that women gained from the nursing profession.
Description
Keywords
Spanish Influenza, Pandemic, Saskatchewan, Nursing, Women, Public Health
Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
History
Program
History