‘Handbook for Attendants on the Insane’

Book "Handbook for Attendants on the Insane", 4th ed. 1902, by the Medico Psychological Association. Located Science Museum Library at Wroughton. Shelfmark: 616.89 MEDICO

Regulations regarding the care of people with mental illnesses are in this handbook. It contains topics such as anatomy and physiology, symptoms of disease, nursing the sick and laying out the dead. Only one chapter is on the actual care of patients with mental illness. It outlines the penalties for ill-treating patients. This indicates an increasing awareness of the ‘rights’ of patients with mental illness at the turn of the century. The handbook was originally published in America. It was published in London by the Medico Psychological Association of Great Britain and Ireland. It was considered an ‘essential text-book’ for nurses training for the ‘Certificate of Proficiency in Nursing’. Anyone working with patients with mental illness required this qualification.