The history of nursing encompasses the story of the largest section of the health care workforce, in war and peace, home and hospital. It includes the nursing care of adults, mothers and babies, children, and people with a learning disability or mental health problem. Use this guide as a starting point to find information resources related to the history of nursing including books, journals, archives and exhibitions.
Anionwu, E (2016) Mixed blessings from a Cambridge union, London: ELIZAN
Bellman, L, B; Boase, S; Roger, S et al (2018) Nursing through the years: Care and compassion at the Royal London Hospital, Barnsley: Pen & Sword History.
Brooks, J (2018) Negotiating nursing: British Army sisters and soldiers in the Second World War, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Brooks J & Hallett C E (2015) (editors) One hundred years of nursing wartime practices, 1854-1953, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Cohen S (2018) The district nurse: a pictorial history, Barnsley: Pen & Sword History.
D'Antonio P (2013) Routledge handbook on the global history of nursing, Abingdon: Routledge.
Graham M (2013) Nurses voices from the Northern Ireland troubles: personal accounts form the front line, London: RCN Publishing.
Hallett C (2017) The nurses of Passchendaele, Barnsley: Pen and Sword.
McGann S, Crowther, A & Dougall R (2009) A history of the Royal College of Nursing, 1916-1990: A voice for nursing, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Mortimer B (2012) Sisters memories from the courageous nurses of world war two, London: Hutchenson.
Palmer D (2014) Who cared for the carers? A history of the occupational health of nurses, 1880-1948, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Seacole, M (2014) Wonderful adventures of Mrs Seacole in many lands, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Skretkowicz V (editor) (1992) Florence Nightingale’s Notes on Nursing (revised with additions), London: Scutari Press.
Sweet H & Hawkins S (2015) (editors) Colonial caring: A history of colonial and post-colonial nursing, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Author of this guide
RCN Library and Archive Services
Page last updated - 18/09/2019
