The Visiting Nurse Association of New Britain. [Advertising Card].

[New Britain, Connecticut]: [The Visiting Nurse Association of New Britain], (n. d.), circa 1920s. 3-1/2 x 6 inches. Small card, printed on both sides. White clay-coated stock printed in black, with b&w halftone illustration to recto of a nurse standing in a doorway. Light wear and soiling. Good+. Promotional card providing the contact details for the Visiting Nurse Assocation of New Britain, Connecticut, as well as a detailed description of the services and rates offered. In addition to caring for sick patients, the nurses educated pregnant women about hygiene, assisted doctors during a woman's confinement in pregnancy, gave maternity care to new mothers and babies, held "Well Baby Conferences, where babies are weighed and mothers advised as to their proper care," cared for all policy holders who were entitled to care, and tought health. District service cost 75 cents, maternity care required an extra 25 cents for the baby, and hourly service was $1 for the first hour + 50 cents per half hour afterward (not to exceed three hours). Sundays were reserved for emergency work only, and low-income patients received reduced cost or free care, except for hourly service. Visiting nurse associations (VNAs) were first founded in the U.S. in the late 1800s, primarily in major cities in the northeastern states. They offered home nursing and health education, especially for the poor and immigrants. According to contemporary newspaper accounts, the New Britain VNA also worked with a more rural population, and held health classes and educational entertainment for children at nearby state fairs, among other locations.