A Century of Caring: The Health Sciences at the University of Iowa, 1850-1950: College of Nursing

Instruments and Equipment

Forceps are designed to extract a baby from the birth canal during a difficult delivery. Obstetrical forceps consist of two curved, metal blades that are inserted between the vaginal wall and the infant's head. To ease the baby out, the forceps handles are brought together. Forceps are no longer used as frequently as in the past, however their use is still sometimes necessary to deliver a baby.

MM #70

Weighted Vaginal Speculum
1915 - 1981

Specula are used to dilate the opening of a body cavity for medical examination. This vaginal speculum was designed to be heavily weighted in order to keep the vagina open for examinations and tests performed by the physician.

Gift of Oakdale Sanatorium; MM #488

Patient Privacy Screen
circa 1925

Gift of Oakdale Sanatorium; MM #40

Wire bassinet
circa 1910

An item essential to infant care, the bassinet has taken many forms. This model is an "institutional" version of the traditional, basket-like infant bed. It is built of a heavy-gauge wire intended for years of service. Card holders for identification (a maternity ward necessity) are found on both ends of the bed.

Before 1900, less than five percent of American births took place in hospitals, but by 1921, most women living in cities gave birth in hospitals. The change was part of a larger movement to professionalize medicine. Male physicians rather than midwives or lay practitioners began to supervise home deliveries, offering anesthesia to relieve the pain of childbirth. Later, specialists systematized birthing in hospitals, creating an almost factory-like setting.

Medical schools had a role in the movement toward hospital births. Poor women were offered "painless" births attended by physicians-in-training at maternity hospitals. Eventually, physicians desired to confine deliveries to the structured hospital setting, and women of all classes came to give birth in the hospital. By 1955, the hospital provided the setting for 95 percent of all American births.

Gift of Madeline M. Sullivan, Iowa City

Labels - Nursing Garb:

Student Nurse's Cape
1949

This cape was worn by Celia Bingham when she was a nursing student at the University of Iowa College of Nursing. The cape was worn in place of a coat as students and graduates walked between the University Hospital and Westlawn, the nurse's dormitory. The initials "SUI" stitched on the collar represent State University of Iowa. This cape was part of a custom-made uniform which nursing students were required to purchase and wear.

Gift of Celia Bingham, North Liberty, IA; MM #519

University of Iowa Student Nurse Uniform

From the 1920s to the 1960s, the standard student nurse's "hospital uniform" consisted of a blue and white striped dress, white apron and bib, and starched collar and cuffs. Student nurses wore this uniform only on the hospital wards. To change into the "overseas uniform," worn to classes on the east side of the river, students removed the apron and bib and added a belt, bow tie, and military-style cap. This required a quick change for students leaving for class directly from the hospital. Because of this inconvenience, the requirement was eventually dropped.

Gift of the University of Iowa College of Nursing, MM #530

Nursing Caps

Nurses' caps were once an integral part of their uniform. The earliest design, the muffin cap, was replaced around 1920 by a pointed design which could be made from a man's linen handkerchief. Nurses made their own caps from this design until the Bruck Company began manufacturing them. These practical caps were designed to be folded flat and carried in a book. As Blanche McGurk, a former UIHC nurse and instructor, explained in a letter, "The [new] cap was adopted for economy, easy making, storing, laundering, and uniformity! The first cap was difficult to make, more difficult to launder, and worse than an Easter bonnet to store."

The handkerchief cap originally required a one-inch band, made by folding back one side of the handkerchief. The design gradually evolved to the winged, highly-starched model with a wider band. At the beginning of their last year in nursing school, students were given a black stripe to attach to their caps. Caps have not been worn to any great extent since 1972 and are no longer a required part of the nursing uniform.

Muffin Cap
circa 1910

At the turn of the century, many women had very long hair which the nurse's cap was intended to hold to maintain the hygienic environment necessary for patient care. Early caps covered the whole head and were considered unbecoming by nurses. Muffins caps were worn in the University Hospital until about 1920.

MM #531

Handkerchief Cap
circa 1925

The handkerchief cap replaced the muffin cap and was much easier to clean, make, and transport. Smaller than previous caps, they covered only the knot of hair at the top of the head.

Gift of Elizabeth Keyser Means, RN, Iowa City, IA; MM #278

Graduate Nurse's Cap
circa 1944

Senior student nurses added a quarter-inch black band to their caps and graduate nurses replaced that with a half-inch thick band. Graduate nurses wore the cap from their alma mater, regardless of where they worked. As donor Elizabeth Means, RN, remembers, "It gave us a sense of pride and identification and it was always interesting because you could tell what school a girl graduated from by the cap she wore."

Gift of Elizabeth Keyser Means, RN, Iowa City, IA; MM #252