Special Report
What a Hospital Looked Like 100 Years Ago
October 22, 2020 8:34 am
21. Bloodletting seen as cure
We associate bloodletting as a treatment for disease hundreds of years ago. However, the procedure was still used in the early 20th century.
22. Nurses wore hats
Until the 1980s, nurses wore small white caps as part of their uniform. This ended when nurses began wearing scrubs.
23. More anesthesia use
Anesthesia was being used more frequently and efficiently 100 years ago. In 1914, Dr. Dennis E. Jackson developed a carbon dioxide-absorbing anesthesia system that used less anesthetic than previous methods.
24. For-profit hospitals in South
Hospitals in the South lacked the wealthy donors of the North, and many were for-profit institutions and were physician-owned.
25. Little regulatory oversight
Hospitals were increasing in number in the United States 100 years ago, but there was no regulation of the industry. Hospitals were free to oversee their own expenses, what to charge patients, and how to collect the bill.