Blog
20
blog posts
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13 Apr 2026
From the Archives: The voice of the expert?
This blog series delves into the oldest of the RCN’s historical book collection, exploring the ways in which nursing was taught in the past. ‘A Complete System of Nursing ‘and ‘Practical Nursing’ are two contrasting texts by a nurse and doctor ‘experts’ whose names would have been known to hundreds of aspiring nurses in the early 20th Century.
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1 Apr 2026
‘The Lady with the Lamp’ – how the 1950s Ladybird book shaped children’s perceptions of nursing.
This blog reflects on how the mid 20th-century Ladybird book on Florence Nightingale shaped a simplified, romanticised version of Nightingale’s story for generations of children. It argues the book reinforced narrow 1950s ideas about gender, class, and who counts in history, leaving out other notable nurses and presenting nursing as young women’s work.
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21 Jan 2026
From the Archives: Are nursing textbooks useful or wise?
This blog series will delve into the oldest of the RCN’s historical book collection, exploring the ways in which nursing was taught in the past. Herbert E Cuff’s 1896 ‘Lectures on Medicine to Nurses’ is one such example.
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21 Jan 2026
Wikipedia as a platform for engagement: widening public knowledge of Scottish nurses
In this blog Sue shares fascinating examples of some of the nurses she has ‘met’ through the ‘Nurses in Red’ project, with a focus on Scottish nurses.
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10 Nov 2025
Remembering nurses awarded the Royal Red Cross in World War Two for exceptional devotion and bravery
Over a thousand UK and Commonwealth nurses received the Royal Red Cross Award in World War Two. The citations for the award reveal their bravery but also the horrors of nursing in wars.
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9 Oct 2025
Reading’s private nursing service, 1873 to 1940
In keeping with other voluntary hospitals in the late nineteenth century the Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH), Reading, introduced a private nursing service. At the time, these were a popular employment option for many nurses. This blog uses the archival records of the RBH to explore the scheme.
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10 Sep 2025
The untold story of nurses in infection prevention and control
The blog highlights nurses' often-overlooked role in pioneering infection prevention, from Florence Nightingale's data-driven reforms to Edna C. Morse's pioneering hand hygiene research. It shows their innovations remain crucial today for patient safety and antimicrobial stewardship.
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21 Aug 2025
Nursing the English from plague to Peterloo - 1660 - 1820
This Blog highlights a very important new book about early nursing history written by Allanah Tomkins, professor of social history. It gives new insight into nursing pre-Nightingale and helps challenge the dominant narrative that all pre-reform nurses were terrible.
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4 Jul 2025
Raising the profile of pioneering nurses at the Glasgow Science Festival
This blog highlights our experience of running two events at the Glasgow Science Festival which shared the stories of pioneering nurses from Glasgow - tabletop activities in a museum and a walking tour of the Glasgow Necropolis cemetery with Friends of Glasgow Necropolis.
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12 May 2025
Remembering Win Logan (1926-2025)
In this Blog, Janet looks at the rich and varied career of Win Logan, nurse educator and co-author of 'The Elements of Nursing'.
