Artifact of the Month: May 2023

Elinore's Place in Ketchikan

Nurses are the backbone of the healthcare industry, providing services like critical care, health education, and patient's rights advocacy. Ketchikan is fortunate to have both resident and itinerant, or traveling, nurses serving our community. To honor America's 4.4 million registered nurses, the American Nurses Association celebrates May as National Nurses Month.

Elinore Jacobsen was a practicing nurse when she came to Ketchikan in 1958. She started as a floor nurse at Ketchikan General Hospital. Later, she became a school nurse at White Cliff Elementary so that she could have summers off with her children. In 1973, Elinore moved over to the Ketchikan Public Health Center. She was particularly interested in women and children's health, often working in local schools. Eventually, she transitioned into the role of Advanced Nurse Practitioner/ Women's Health Care Specialist for the State of Alaska. After a rich and rewarding public health career, Elinore retired in 1989.

This month's featured artifact is a manual called, "Medical Standing Orders for Itinerant Public Health Nurses." The manual essentially is a quick guide to address an array of medical conditions, immunizations, family planning, and health-related legal issues. Although the manual was geared towards nurses traveling to remote communities, Elinore would take it with her when she worked in the schools.

Through her nursing career, Elinore was exposed to the horrors of child abuse. She would become a staunch advocate for some of Alaska's first child abuse legislation in the 1960s and 1970s. On April 22, 2023, a new Child Advocacy Center opened at Public Health through a partnership with Women in Safe Homes. The Center unites local and state agencies to provide assistance for child abuse cases and is named "Elinore's Place" in honor of her advocacy efforts.

Object ID #: KM 2020.2.94.6