National Library of Medicine Highlights Nursing and Healthcare Workers in New Virtual Collection Tour
Uncovering the Everyday Realities of Healthcare Labor#
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has launched a dedicated virtual collection tour examining the historical contributions of healthcare workers to medicine and public health. Curated through NLM’s Circulating Now historical collections series, the initiative brings overdue archival visibility to the diverse personnel whose daily labor sustained patient care: nurses, midwives, orderlies, physician assistants, emergency medical technicians, and institutional administrators.
For scholars of nursing and healthcare history, this curated selection offers a compelling look at the long-standing, often under-documented history of medical support staff. As the curators emphasize, these workers frequently spent significantly more time in direct contact with patients than primary physicians. Crucially, the collection sheds light on the history of “intangible” and emotional labor in healthcare—the essential dimensions of affective care and bedside compassion that extend beyond biological healing.
Scholars tracking recent developments in digital humanities and archival releases can follow our broader EAHN News & Announcements for ongoing international updates.
Highlights from the Digitized Archives and Manuscript Collections#
The virtual tour draws upon several key repositories within the NLM Digital Collections :
- Images from the History of Medicine (IHM): Photographic materials and public health posters, including documentary photographs of the Army Nurses at the Station Hospital in Plattsburg, NY (ca. 1950), World War I American Field Service ambulance units (1918), and international emergency medical service campaigns.
- American College of Nurse-Midwives Records: Comprehensive organizational archives documenting the professionalisation of nurse-midwifery, early clinical primers, training manuals, personal correspondence of pioneer midwives, and master’s theses preserved in the NLM Archives and Modern Manuscripts division.
- Historical Texts and Institutional Reports: Mid-century surveys such as the Canadian Department of Labour’s Hospital Workers, Other than Professional (Ottawa, 1954) alongside critical studies on health services ethics and hospital administration.
- Biomedical Film and Audiovisual Holdings: Archival lectures and instructional films documenting the evolving role of nursing staff in domestic violence intervention, occupational health, and community emergency care.
Archival Access and Scholarly Research#
The NLM provides detailed Finding Aids for researchers investigating large-scale institutional aggregations across its manuscript, photographic, and film collections. In addition to online digital facsimiles, researchers can utilize the library’s scan-on-demand service and consult reference archivists remotely.
This collection tour serves as an invaluable pedagogical and research guide for historians examining institutional hospital governance, healthcare equity, and the social history of the nursing profession. For monographs and recently published academic studies addressing similar institutional themes, visit our EAHN Publications section .
To explore the complete virtual tour, consult the full feature on the NLM Circulating Now Blog .