The Work of Nurses in the Fever Unit at the Ontario Hospital Toronto: A Qualitative Descriptive Case Study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the process and practices that informed fever therapy treatment at the Ontario Hospital, Toronto, and to describe the work of mental health nurses providing fever therapy at the Ontario Hospital, Toronto from 1941 to 1950. For almost a decade (1941 to 1950) the Ontario Hospital, Toronto operated a fever therapy unit for the treatment of neurosyphilis, an advanced stage of syphilis. This unit, the only one of its kind in Ontario, used specially designed cabinets to elevate patient temperatures in an attempt to kill the bacterium known to cause neurosyphilis. These treatments, lasting 8 to 10 hours, was taxing on patients, both mentally and physically, and often left the patient in a compromised medical state. The fever unit at the Ontario Hospital, Toronto was managed entirely by mental health nurses with next to no oversight from physicians, even in times of adverse medical reaction. This image of the mental health nurse as a highly skilled and competent practitioner is not one that has been historically assigned to this area of nursing. This thesis contributes to the history of mental health nursing in Ontario and nursing overall.