Enlightenment ideas and mental health nursing in the early 20th century

Abstract

By the mid-19th century, German Enlightenment thinkers began to impact on leaders in the field of English psychiatry, and by the beginning of the 20th century, some mental health nurses were beginning to appreciate how revolutionary intellectual ideas could benefit psychiatric patients. In attempting to transform the work of nurses, this largely unskilled labour force was not unaware that they could enhance their professional status. Drawing on previously unexplored contents from two journals founded in the 19th century, the Journal of Mental Science and Asylum News, evidence will be presented that mental health nurses were becoming change agents as opposed to mere custodians and blind followers of asylum routines.