QUARTERLY BULLETIN l
Frontier Nursing Service
U you have never been introduced to the Frontier Nurs-
` ing Service we would like to take this opportunity to brief you on
the history and the on-going work of the Service. Please share
_ this information with a friend
Bom in 1881 into a prominent American family, Mary
Breckinridge spent her early years in many parts of the world -
Russia, France, Switzerland and the British Isles. After the death
of her two children, she abandoned the homebound life expected
of women of her class to devote herself to the service of others,
particularly children.
Mrs. Breckinridge established the Frontier Nursing Ser-
vice (FNS) in Leslie County, Kentucky in 1925, then one of the
poorest and most inaccessible areas in the United States. Mrs.
Breckinridge introduced the first nurse-midwives in this country.
Riding their horses up mountains and across streams in blizzard,
fog or flood, the FNS nurses brought modem healthcare to fami-
lies throughout an area of 700 square miles.
Until her death in 1965, Mary Breckinridge was the driv-
ing force behind the work of the Service whose influence today
” extends far beyond eastern Kentucky. Through the Frontier School
of Midwifery and Family Nursing, hundreds of nurses have been
p trained and this important concept of family healthcare has been
i carried throughout the world.
Today, FNS, Inc., is organized as a parent holding com-
pany for Mary Breckinridge Healthcare, Inc., Frontier Nursing
Healthcare, Inc., which includes four rural healthcare clinics (Com-
‘ munity Health Center, Beech Fork Clinic, Kate Ireland Healthcare
Center and Dr. Anne Wasson Healthcare Center) and for the Fron-
tier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing - the largest mid-
' wifery program in the United States. The Frontier School of Mid-
wifery & Family Nursing also trains family nurse practitioners.
Remarkably, the purpose and philosophy of the FNS has
. remained constant since 1925.