History of nursing

Introduction If you have been involved with our association for any time you will be aware of the fact that BAUN is as much about being part of our community as it is about anything else. Rachel Leaver (previous BAUN trustee, newsletter editor and general friend of BAUN) passed away…

Chris Holme explores the early beginnings of nurse research and some of its leading protagonists.

Why should nurses do research? The answer may seem obvious now, but it certainly was not at the start of the NHS in 1948. Research covers a myriad of activity from supporting innovative practice to the…

Independent nurse consultant Chris Hart discusses the history of nurses taking industrial action in the UK, from 1922 to the present day.

On a cold November day in 1937, the people of central London were presented with an astonishing sight. Like a feminine version of Banquo’s ghost, nurses marched through its…

Life expectancy for men is 45, free school meals are introduced and Nursing Times is launched (article first published 2005) The Britain Nursing Times’ first readers knew was worlds away from contemporary society. The population of 38,328,000 had an average life expectancy of 45 for men and 49 for women,…

Nurses march over pay, the RCN becomes a trade union and discipline is relaxed to boost morale (article first published 2005) The 1970s was the decade when nurses really started to fight back against what they saw as injustice. From 1971 onwards, industrial action became a significant feature among NHS…

The Great War and registration turn nursing from a vocation into a profession (article first published 2005) If its first few years were in a relatively quiet period of British and nursing history, the second decade of the 20th century presented far more challenges for nurses and Nursing Times. In…

The profession is transformed by fairer pay, married women, male nurses and flexible hours (article first published 2005) The 1960s were a time of change for nursing as the profession started to gain more independence and self-control over its future, but it was a slow process. In the early 1960s,…

Aids is a new health threat, the NHS has its longest pay dispute yet and the UKCC is created (article first published 2005) The 1980s were characterised by industrial strife and upheaval in nursing. The profession was more often than not at loggerheads with the then Conservative government. Prime minister…

Nursing prepares for the 21st century by revolutionising training and taking on greater responsibility (article first published 2005) An interesting period dawned in 1990. There was a feel that the UK probably had a small surplus of nurses. But by the end of the decade, this had completely changed and…

The NHS becomes established but the now-familiar problem of nurse shortages begins to emerge (article first published 2005) Two years after the NHS began, it was starting to become clear just how much of a change this really was for nurses while the UK was still struggling to get over…