Cornerstone Documents, Milestones, and Policies: Shaping the Direction of Public Health Nursing 1950-2015

Ruth Hubbard, a public health nursing (PHN) leader in 1950, offered a timeless comment, “To each age comes its own peculiar problems and challenges, but to it also comes the necessary vision and strength” (p. 608). Similar to the 1950s, from 1950 to 2015 unique healthcare and workforce issues continued to arise calling for public health nurses to respond with vision and strength. In Part Two of a three-part series on PHN history, we examine seminal documents, events, and policies that influenced practice. We begin by considering the time period 1950 to 1975, and then discuss healthcare transitions; social activism and community health planning; and concerns from the years 1975 to 2000 and 2000 to 2015. These milestones reflected challenges of emerging chronic diseases, re-emerging infectious diseases, immigration and terrorism, as well as post-war prosperity and improvements in health care. As in the early 20th century, response to challenges included periods of expansion and recession. We conclude by considering the past as prologue, discussing prospects for present and future PHN.