Today we went to the Foundling Museum. A place founded by Thomas Coram, as well as composer George Handel, and artist William Hogarth. These men has a heart for kids, and the rate at which kids were surviving back then was really upsetting for them. Kids were being left out on the streets to die every day. People just couldn’t always take care of them. We always here about those orphan stories where a kid is left on the doorstep of a church or home and then taken in to be cared for. But this was actually happening every day. It reminded me of Hunchback of Notre Dame, or even the story of Moses from the Bible. There were actually a lot of references to Moses’ story throughout the museum, which I thought was really amazing.

Coram’s hospital/school, took in as many children as they possibly could, but of course, they couldn’t accept everyone. There were already hundreds and the place had to be kept strict and orderly to maintain them all. But after listening to some interviews of kids who grew up there, it seems as though they did indeed care for these children quite well and loved them as best they could. Some of these children even found the day where the person that dropped them off was able to return for them. Sometimes it was just a matter of money, so when luck turned around for a parent or guardian, they could come back and get their child if they were able. If no way came back though, the kids were raised and taught till around eleven years old and then sent out to do apprenticeships for people and learn a trade. It’s an awfully young age to go out and find a job, but these were the times back then.

I really enjoyed this museum. I absolutely love kids, and so it really made me happy to see that there were people who made an effort to change things. Kids are the future, and I’m just glad someone realized this when they had the chance. Coram and his friends helped and saved a lot of lives by their work.

A statue of Thomas Coram

The museum of the Order of St. John is very interesting because they came up with the idea of the first ambulance. Back in the nineteenth century many people didn’t go to the hospital when they got hurt, mainly because there was so way to get there. The order wanted to change that and came up with the idea of an ambulance that could take people to a hospital. In order for that to happen they had free first aid classes that became very popular with the general public. The first ambulance was a blanket that wrapped around two sticks on either side. Not very good but worked. Eventually the technology grew and cars started to be in use and now St. Johns ambulances are the leading ambulance service in the UK. An interesting fact was that when they first started they began to train children in first aid so that they could help or be more prepared for the future.

Today, we visited the Foundling Museum.  The Foundling Museum used to be a hospital that was founded by a man named Thomas Coram.  Coram hated seeing mothers leave their babies or small children wrapped up for someone to find, as the mother herself could not provide the care needed or if she were unmarried, it was socially unacceptable for her to have the child.  The Foundling Hospital took in about 1,000 kids each year.  Unfortunately, there were more children than could be taken in, so they formed a system much like a lottery to see which kids would get accepted.  The mothers would line up and pick a colored ball out of a bag; if they drew red their child was accepted, white meant their child would be put on a wait list, and black meant that they were denied.  After dropping their child off, the mother would leave a token or piece of jewellery with their child’s paperwork.  If the mother ever got to a point in her life where she could care for her child, she could come back to the Foundling Hospital and would have to describe the token to prove that she was the mother of that child.  However, that was not a common occurrence.  From the hospital, the children were then placed with foster families, who would care for them for at least five years, or until they were old enough to begin an apprenticeship.  I found this museum very interesting to learn about because my aunt used to be a foster parent, so I have been around foster care since I was a young child.  I think that foster care is such a great thing, especially now that adoption comes out of it.  Foster care really gives kids who had  nothing a lot of love and care, as well as a new beggining to their life where they can start over and achieve great things.

Our nursing class went to the Welcome Trust Museum to see the exhibit that was called dirt. Now, the dirt in this exhibit wasn’t like mud, soil, or what you would see on the ground. The Dirt displayed in this exhibit was the filthy reality of everyday life’ that travels across centuries and continents to explore our debatable relationship with dirt. We saw how Antonie Van Leeuwenhock found the first algae specimens in which he observed living and reproducing protozoa and bacteria with his first microscope. There were a lot of horrible pictures from what they called the great stink. One of the pictures shown a man in a boat pulling out a nasty creature from the river to describe that they city was filthy and full of sewage. In India, today, there are still many streets and towns that are filled with sewage and filth. They were playing a video of man who has suffered in his dirty town and he had given up hope. It was sad to see pictures of these poor people homes that were being destroyed because of bad sewage. But, it was also cool to see how “dirt” has impacted our lives today.

Our nursing class!

The Hunterian Museum was really interesting! There were every anatomical thing possible in the museum. There were animals, organs, skin grafts, and much more. There was a skeleton of a 7’7 foot man. His femurs were huge! There was a skull of a man who had hydrocephalus and it was disroportionate and massive. There were skeletons and jars of different stages of fetuses which was pretty neat to see how it develops. It was really cool museum!

Jul 01, 2011

The Hunterian Museum should be renamed. It was more odd and abnormal than anything I’ve ever seen. Certainly not what I expected at all, but I really had an awesome time there. The place was filled with so many different things that I probably could have spent a whole day in there trying to read about them all. Hunter certainly had put together quite a phenomenal collection.

About all of it were things based off anatomical research and studies, but it also had artwork, surgical tools, and many other things as well. Some of the things I saw in there were completely mind blowing. There was a skeleton of a man who was over seven feet tall. I stood in front of it and I barely came up to his chest. That was something I could hardly imagine seeing in real life. There were also amazing specimens throughout the gallery, such as dissected animals, pieces and parts of different creatures, and even whole human and animal fetuses alike. Some of that was a bit disturbing, like the human babies, but most of it proved to be extremely interesting.

I just thought it was amazing how all this spectacular stuff was gathered into one space. How he ever managed to get it all is beyond me. The man must have had some pretty powerful connections, because some of the things in there were one of a kind displays. I learned so much just walking through a tiny section of this place, so getting to enjoy the whole thing was just wonderful. I really loved this museum, and I would actually love to come back to it again some day.

A middle section of the museum.

Florence Nightingale was one of the most influential nurses ever. During her time nursing started to become a profession instead of them being criminals off the street or so on. There were many things that she did which have made huge impacts on the field today. For instance, she would keep statistical charts and notes on everything that was happening and through them she would show what the actual conditions of the deaths were. She rose to fame during the crimean war where she earned the nickname, the lady with the lamp. She really cared about the well being of the men and their families which was a different concept for the profession. The way the museum was set up was interesting. One part in particular was  when it talked about the advancements she made during the war for the men because i want to be a nurse in the intensive care unit or emergency room for the military so to see how one person tried to help all those people in horrible conditions, and how she made it better for future generations was fascinating. Another interesting fact was that “notes on nursing” a book she wrote was not intended for nurses, it was intended for mothers so that they can learn to take care of their families. Florence Nightingale was a highly connected woman on a mission to help and helped changed how people are cared for.

Today, our class (History of Health Care) went to the Hunterian Museum.  The museum purchased a collection of anatomical specimens from a man named John Hunter, whom the museum was then named after.  In this museum, there were thousands of items to view, including all different parts of the body (both human and animal) as well as fetus’ at all different stages.  The Hunterian Museum even had the skeleton of the “Irish Giant” Charles Byrne.  He was 7′ 7″ tall!  Another part of this museum that I found really interesting was videos showing different surgeries being performed, including a benign brain tumor removal.  Overall, this museum was by far my favorite that I have been to in London!