Baths, works and shackles: the treatment of the alienated in the 19th century

Abstract

[Excerpt] Introduction The hospital environment in Portugal, during the nineteenth century, was marked by several routines, in compliance with standards and tasks performed by those who practiced the assistance. At the time, nurses were submitted to a strict hierarchy and their private lives merged with the daily life of the institutions where they worked. In the different hospital contexts that sheltered the alienated, the duties and functions attributed to nurses were clearly defined, and indicated a continuous and close relationship wih the persons who were hospitalized.