ABSTRACT
By 1967, results from various experiments to improve the health care of babies had accumulated enough for the National Health Service to appoint a committee to review the evidence and make recommendations. The committee included a family doctor, district health officer, supervisory nurses, a director of a school of public-health nursing, a practicing health visitor, an economist, and lawyers. Originally, health visitors worked out of their own homes and were quite independent in their work. Although the 1937 law established the possibility for supervisors for health visitors, the number grew quite slowly. Some of the recommendations of the committee have already become official policy of the National Health Service. Others are incorporated into revisions in the law. The nurse who will eventually emerge will have a vital role in the health care of the entire community. Compared to some programs for children in Denmark, infant-health visiting is a new idea.
