Fever Nurses Association
Founded 1908, raised fever nursing standards before State Registration.
The Fever Nurses Association was founded in London in 1908 by Dr Biernacki, who was then the Medical Superintendent of Plaistow Hospital. Dr McIntyre succeeded him as head of the organisation. Miss Minnie Drakard served as the first Nurse President. The governing body consisted of 39 members: 20 doctors and 19 matrons and assistant matrons, most from fever hospitals and some from Metropolitan Asylums Board hospitals.
Nurse Susan Villiers, who represented fever nurses on the General Nursing Council, was a member. The association backed Ethel Bedford-Fenwick's campaign for nurse registration and had a seat on the Central Committee for the State Registration of Nurses, established in 1908. After the association was set up, a training scheme for fever nurses was created. The Fever Nurses Association raised the standard of training in fever hospitals, preceding State Registration.
Once State Registration began, the General Nursing Council conducted fever nursing examinations, which caused the association to lose revenue. A Committee of Nurses reviewed the association's role and recommended forming a new body, which was accepted and named 'The League of Fever Nurses'. The 1915-1916 report recorded 2,189 members holding the Fever Nurses' Association Certificate.
Quick Facts
- Founded
- 1908
- Location
- London
- Founder
- Dr Biernacki
- First nurse president
- Miss Minnie Drakard
- Governing body size
- 39 members (20 doctors, 19 matrons and assistant matrons)
- Successor organization
- The League of Fever Nurses
Facts from the source article.
Miss Minnie Drakard SRN, RFN, FBCN
Minnie Drakard began her nursing career at Boston Hospital, Lincolnshire, and Nottingham General Hospital. While working as a Sister in Nottingham, she gained experience in the fever house treating typhoid patients. She served as Matron at Taunton Sanitary Hospital for two years starting in 1893, then moved to Plaistow Hospital in 1895. There she completed a two-year course in fever training, and the first group of nurses received their certificates in 1898.
Drakard remained Matron of Plaistow for thirty-six and a half years, retiring in 1932. During her time there, fever care advanced with the introduction of preventive and curative serums, as well as bed isolation and barrier nursing to limit infection spread. Staff were also immunised against diphtheria and scarlet fever. In 1915, she travelled to Dunkirk to organise nursing for a Friends’ Ambulance Unit hospital treating enteric fever in French troops.
Plaistow became a leading training school for fever nurses. Drakard was President of the Infectious Hospitals Matrons’ Association, a member and later Fellow of the British College of Nurses, and backed State Registration of Nurses. In retirement, she served as President of the League of Fever Nurses. She died at home in Datchworth on 12 January 1941.
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