Gretchen Osgood Papers2022-084

The Eleanor Crowder Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry

University of Virginia School of Nursing
P.O. Box 800782
Charlottesville, Virginia 22908-0782
mailto:nurs-hxc@virginia.edu
URL: http://www.nursing.virginia.edu/cnhi/

Sandra L. Annan

Repository

The Eleanor Crowder Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry

Identification

2022-084

Title

Gretchen Osgood Papers 1963-1990

URL:

https://archives.lib.virginia.edu/ark:/59853/142113

Quantity

1.25 Linear Feet

Language

English .

Abstract

(b. ca. 1922) Public Health Nursing; 24-year career with U.S. Public Health Service Division of Nursing. Government publications and survey data concerning nursing education, staffing, and legal/legislative issues. Items concerning the history of nurse practitioners.

Biographical / Historical

Gretchen Osgood received her undergraduate degree from Smith College in 1943, then went on to earn a diploma in nursing from Johns Hopkins University and an MS in Supervision in Public Health Nursing from Boston University School of Nursing. After working as a clinician and an instructor, then as an associate director of nursing at the University of Illinois Hospitals, Osgood became a Nurse Consultant in the United States Public Health Service in 1962. She remained with the USPS Division of Nursing for the next 24 years, ending her career in the position of Deputy Director.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists primarily of government publications containing data from numerous nursing surveys. For the most part, these studies concern nursing education and manpower, and legal issues related to the health professions. The collection also contains a 1979 original manuscript on the history of nurse practitioners and miscellaneous other publications, letters, and articles on nursing collected by Ms. Osgood. These materials range in date from the 1960s through the 1990s.

Arrangement

The collection has been arranged into three chronological series: Series 1: Nursing Manpower and Education Series 2: Health Professions Legislation Series 3: Miscellaneous Documents Related to Nursing Practice.

The first series consists of a large number of government publications, as well as journal articles, letters, and newspaper clippings. Topics in this series are related to nursing manpower and education, such as nursing shortages, effectiveness of nursing education legislation, staffing patterns, educational preparation, etc. The second series consists of government publications detailing the history of health professions legislation from 1944 to 1989. The third series consists of government publications and other documents detailing the history of the Public Health Service, the application of primary nursing, and the need for nursing collaboration, as well as an original manuscript about Nurse Practitioners.