"The Second Line of Defense": Philadelphia Nurses and the 1918 Influenza Epidemic

Time: 12:15 p.m.

Place: 2U Conference Room, Room 2019, Claire Fagin Hall

Information: ehweiss@nursing.upenn.edu or 215-898-4502

Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the nurses’ role in responding to the 1918 influenza epidemic in Philadelphia, the city with the highest flu mortality rate in the United States. It focuses specifically on the response by hospital nurses and the Philadelphia Visiting Nurse Society during the months of September to December, 1918, and considers their roles within the social, political, medical and nursing context of the period.