Have You a Hobby?

Abstract

Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times. In the first half of the 20th century, AJN readers were regularly reminded about the importance of hobbies. As Frances Pedersen remarked in this April 1931 article, "We owe it to ourselves and to our work to regularly seek refreshment of mind and body." In those early decades, the journal devoted a surprising amount of time to this particular nonclinical topic. A variety of authors enthusiastically shared ideas for hobbies, such as collecting hospital postcards, or, as in Pedersen's article, gardening. Some argued that people with hobbies were more well rounded and therefore made better nurses. And some saw hobbies as essential relaxation. For our April issue, with Earth Day and spring in mind, and for those of us who spend our fast-paced workdays dealing with COVID-19 and other serious issues, we thought gardening was a particularly good hobby to cover.-Betsy Todd, MPH, RN.