Nurses and Midwives

Nursing services were not a part ofthe earliest Sacramentohospitals, norwere these services common anywhere. It was notuntil the Crimean War (1855-1856) thatFlorence Nightingale pioneered modemnursingandbegan tomakeit respectable.ProbablythefirstSacramentohospitaltoemploy nurses was the Central Pacific Railroad Hospital, 1869, and these early nurses were male.

Although the Sisters ofMercy came to Sacramento in 1857 to serve the needy and sick, it was not until 1895 that they took over the Ridge Home at 22nd and R Streets, a buildingoriginally donatedbyMrs. E. B. Crockerforthe care of elderly women. Later the Ridge Home was operated by pioneerphysician G. L. Simmons,M.D., who encouragedand financedthetakeover.Volunteersandpracticalnursesserved the patients.

When the Sisters built a larger hospital, Mater Misericordiae at 23rd and R Streets, they became the first Community of Sisters in California to offer a program in nursing education. Four students entered the first class in 1897. Louise Igo, agraduate nurse from San Francisco, took overtheclass. Later,in 1906, shereceivedhermedical degree from the University ofCalifornia School ofMedicine in San Francisco. She returned in 1910 to her own hospital in Sacramento at 1525 LStreet. Eventually she married aman named Flitcroft and the Igo-Flitcroft Hospital at 3014 M Street was open until 1927.

In 1925, the Nursing School of the Sisters of Mercy movedto morespacious quartersat40th andJwherethenew

Mercy Hospital was located. In 1934, this school was incorporatedastheMercyHospitalCollegeofNursingandaccredited by the State Board ofNurse Examiners. Dr. Frank Reardon taughtthecourses onthemedicalaspectsofnursing. In 1944, the College affiliated with other hospitals in San Francisco and the Sacramento County Hospital in order to provide a wider range ofnursing experience. Increasing academic requirements fornurses causedhospital directors to encourage nursingschools tocontinueincollegeanduniversitysettings. By 1948, the Mercy College ofNursing closed its doors.

Another early nursing school in Sacramento could be found in the White Hospital at 29th and J Streets until it closed in 1924.

The Sacramento County Hospital School of Nursing opened in 1909. With the exception ofa six-month period in 1923, it continued operation until 1950. From 1910 to 1933, 177 nurses were graduated. In 1933, high school graduation was required ofall students andsince 1928 thestudents also attended Sacramento Junior College as part of their three years* training. By 1944, allstudentsearnedAssociateofArts degreesaswellasnursingdiplomas.In 1950,theSacramento JuniorCollege(latertobecomeSacramentoCityCollege)took over the operation of the School of Nursing. By 1958, the traditional three-year nursing program was replaced by a two-year Associate degree program.

In 1923, graduatenurses werepaid$90permonthfora 72-hour week. The 13 nurses atthe County Hospital worked from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with two weeks* vacation peryear and no sick leave. In 1929, theNursesAssociationsoughtsupport from the Sacramento Society for Medical Improvement to decrease their work day from 12 to 10 hours. After a full discussion, the matter was tabled.

Salaries increased by five to seven percent when Civil Servicewas adoptedin 1937. By 1943, nurses werepaid $155 a month. Since the 1920s the California NursesAssociation (District 7) and its predecessor, the Sacramento Nurses Association, played a very active role representing nurses on issues such as salaries and working conditions. The California

League for Nursing (Local Unit J) was more oriented to education and public relations.

DuringWorldWarII,studentnurseswererecruitedand subsidized into the CadetNurses Corps with the expectation thatthey wouldjoin one ofthebranchesoftheArmed Forces. Many did.

Currentlyboth SacramentoStateUniversityandSacramento City College offer approved programs in nursing. At theUniversity, afour-yearcourse leadingtoa Baccalaureate degree has been available since 1958. Atthe College, courses leading to an R.N. and L.V.N. are available.

In California in 1993, there are 92 licensed schools of nursingand 254,270registerednurses, includingnursepractitioners,midwivesandnurse-anesthetists.Over8,694nurses are registered in Sacramento County at this time.

MIDWIVES

Several midwifery set-ups operated in Sacramento in the early 1900s and those listed in the city directories included Lloyds Convalescents, "aged and maternity home,” at 3835 J Street, in 1923; H. Kabayashi, the"Japanese Maternity Home,” at 1423-1/2 4th Street, in 1924; Or^sMaternity Home, at 3138 1st Avenue, in 1928; and Oshita Masyiro Maternity Home, at 2006 6th Street, in 1936.

In 1939, there wereseven licensedmidwiferyestablishments in Sacramento City. Most of these were in "Japan Town." If difficulties arose in delivery, local M.D.s were consulted and, if operative procedures were necessary, the patients were moved to regular hospitals.

The Japanese maternityhomes were closed at the outbreak ofWorld War II with the forced removal ofJapaneseAmericans from Pacific coastal areas. State licensing was abolished and midwifery establishments ceased to exist.