Journey into Health History: Dunn County Public Health Nursing Service

“It has long been known that it COSTS LESS TO PREVENT ILLNESS than it does to treat or cure it.”

This week I continued my journey into the health history of Dunn County by taking a closer look at the Annual Reports created by the Dunn County Public Health Nursing Service, ranging from 1941-1975, which I discovered while searching through the UW-Stout University Archives. The above quote written in the 1943 annual report by the Dunn County Public Health Nurse is as prevalent today as it was 77 years ago. The Dunn County Nurse would write an annual report at the end of each year to the Board of Supervisors of Dunn County. The nurse usually reported about: classes and health centers held; number of children being examined and immunized, and what immunized for (such as smallpox, diphtheria, polio); prevalent diseases in Dunn County (most prevalent during 1940s-1950s were mumps, chicken pox, measles and whooping cough); showing teachers and student teachers at the Dunn County Normal School how to weigh, measure, and test vision and hearing of their students; teaching about preventing the spread of communicable diseases; crippled children’s service; giving rural school children cards for free dental exams; different community groups the nurse worked with during the year, etc. Some groups the nurse worked with that contributed to Dunn County’s Health program over the years, with providing money, free examinations, transportation, etc., were the Salvation Army, Menomonie Legion Auxiliary, the Dunn County Infantile Paralysis Organization, and the Menomonie Rotary and Lions Club. There was also a Lay Advisory Committee organized in 1947 of health minded women from different townships and villages that met once a month and helped connect the County Nurse’s Office to the Dunn County Communities. They provided health educational programs, provided the nurse with help during special programs, and directed people to the Dunn County nurse.

1953 Annual Report

The 1953 annual report provides an overview of what the county nurse does. The nurse needs to have training in Public Health Nursing and knowledge of community health problems so she knows what to look for in the community (by studying community statistics and available records, etc.), how to organize the community in response to health problems, and to teach individuals about improving their health. The nurse created a tentative schedule each month for visiting families and schools in each part of Dunn County, but in the city of Menomonie the School Health Program was directed by a school nurse. The nurse also needs support from the Dunn County medical profession (doctors at Memorial Hospital), and getting their help with immunization centers.

The Dunn County Nurse states in the 1951 annual report that “The Health Program of Dunn County is a community wide project aimed to not only reach the above mentioned groups [the sick and school health problems], but to provide health education for the entire family and community.”  The United States Public Health Service recommended 1 nurse for every 5,000 individuals, so Dunn County could have used 5 nurses for its roughly 27,000 people during the 1950s. The nurse had to be strategic with scheduling visits to homes, schools, and clinics. There was also a Dunn County Public Health Secretary, who dictated and typed letters to parents and teachers, records, reports, postcards, and rescheduled tests, etc., so the nurse had more time to make her rounds in Dunn County.

1951 Annual Report

I found many articles in the Dunn County News from over the years naming who was hired for the position of the Dunn County Public Health Nurse, and when immunization clinics and screenings were being held. Here is an example ad for a Free Blood Pressure screening in the April 11, 1984, p. 9, Dunn County News.

Public health services are also mentioned in the Stoutonia student newspaper over the years. The 1959 annual nurse’s report mentions Stout State College and how it will not be included in the State Board of Health Mobile Health X-Ray Unit.

On the official website for Dunn County, under the Public Health Department, I discovered there is still a Dunn County Public Health Nursing Service. It looks like they provide a lot of the same types of services as in the 1940s-1950s: Home visits, immunizations, screenings, oral dental health education, newborn and family health education, to promote health equity, etc.  An annual report is still created by the Dunn County Health Department. In the 2018 annual report it states that the County Health Department was created in 1935. “The Primary work of the nurse included: an infant and maternal health program, prevention and control of  communicable diseases, building up the health of school children, tuberculosis control and crippled children’s follow up program” (2018 annual report, p. 2). The Dunn County website is a great place to learn about the Public Health services provided in Dunn County, as well as other county resources. During the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic they are providing updates and information on their main website page:  https://www.co.dunn.wi.us/index.asp?SEC={C8A480A6-E321-468A-8920-705855D2E445}

By: Julie Hatfield, Archives Assistant, UW-Stout Archives

Sources:

Dunn County Public Health Nursing Service Annual Reports, 1941-. Manuscript 41. University of Wisconsin-Stout, Archives Department

Dunn County News. April 11, 1984, p.9. Menomonie Public Library Dunn County News Archive, 1862-2020.   https://menomoniepubliclibrary.newspapers.com/search/#lnd=1&query=%22dunn+county+public+health+nurse%22&dr_year=1935-2000&silo=456&p_county=Dunn+County%2C+Wisconsin  (accessed 3/25/2020)

Dunn County Website, Public Health Department, Public Health Nursing.  https://www.co.dunn.wi.us/index.asp?SEC=D8F35BA2-EFA5-43FE-B3B3-A588ABF40865&Type=B_BASIC

_______.  2018 Annual Report. https://www.co.dunn.wi.us/vertical/Sites/%7BD750D8EC-F485-41AF-8057-2CE69E2B175A%7D/uploads/Health_Dept_Annual_Report_2018.pdf

_______. COVID-19 information: https://www.co.dunn.wi.us/index.asp?SEC={C8A480A6-E321-468A-8920-705855D2E445}   (accessed 3/25/2020)

Stoutonia. University of Wisconsin-Stout, Archives Department. https://archive.org/details/stoutonia?&sort=date   (accessed 3/25/2020)