The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Public Health nursing, or “women in blue”, began in the United States at the turn of this century. In 1916 there were 5,152 women in blue employed the country over by all agencies, public and private, according to the October 1938 issue of Survey Graphic. By 1931 there were 15,865 nurses at work, but there were no public health nurses in Wyoming…
…The Social Security Act was passed by Congress on August 14,1935. Its purpose was to make state and local governments responsible for public welfare programs.
Wyoming’s Plan for Maternal and Child Health Services was drawn up in January 1936 to provide preventive medical and public health nursing services to prenatal, infant, preschool and school children. This was the beginning of Public Health Nursing in Wyoming.