Orthopaedic nursing in the 1960s - The end of tuberculosis?

Previous articles in this series have described the care of war casualties in the 1940's and Polio in the 1950's. Throughout both these periods another infectious disease was the cause of prolonged periods of hospitalization for children and adults. This disease was Tuberculosis (TB). In the 1960's, as described in this account, these patients were hospitalized for months and often years. Despite advances in drug therapy the principles for the care of these patients formed the basis for much of the orthopaedic nurse training of that period. This personal account reflects on some of the specifics of care from almost half a century ago.