Obstetrical nursing

“In the developing professional nursing, documenting the contributions of nurses to medical practice was a first step necessary for the acknowledgment of nurses as skilled professionals. . . expertise in the application of scientific medical knowledge was foundational for the future acceptance of the profession as a legitimate partner with medicine (Rinker, 113). . . [In the hospital] Because the anesthetized, restless patient could give no warning of an impending birth, making precipitous delivery very likely, the nurse who managed such a process successfully was obviously an accomplished partner in scientific birth” (116).