Labour of Love

In the late 19th century, the job of nursing moved away from low status male and female servants to become the work of educated women. An ideal rapidly developed of women who worked for the love of humanity and not for monetary reward. The author shows how this ideal of service and sacrifice influenced the nursing associations which sprang up around the turn of the century. They strove to raise the status of nursing in the eyes of the community by emphasizing training rather than the need to improve working conditions. Focusing on the Qeensland experience, the author traces the development of the nurses' association to a "reluctant" trade union; a union often loath to take an industrial role on behalf of its members until more recent times.