Main description:

Ask anyone to name a Victorian pioneer of nursing reform and the answer will probably be, 'Florence Nightingale'. Few people have heard of her contemporary, Elizabeth Malleson (1828-1916), founder of the Rural Nursing Association, or realise the importance of Gloucestershire as the place where her national system of rural district nursing began. This book describes the development of district nursing in rural Gloucestershire from the 1880s, when Elizabeth Malleson moved to the area from London. The establishment of her local charity and its expansion into a national scheme is traced to its affiliation and eventual amalgamation with Queen Victoria's Jubilee Institute for Nurses, the organisation from which today's system of district nursing has evolved.The subsequent progress of the work in Gloucestershire is then followed through the lives of and relationships between three tiers of local society: the middle and upper class ladies who devoted years of their lives to the administration and management of the rural district nursing system, entirely on a voluntary basis; the specially trained nurses who delivered the care; and, the poor patients who benefited from it.
Written by an award-winning historian, this book will appeal to anyone who is interested in the history of nursing in particular, and local, social and women's history in general.

Contents:

CONTENTSINTRODUCTION 5CHARTSThe development of rural district nursing 8Organisational structure of QVJI 9CHAPTER ONEHEALTH CARE IN THE 1880sInstitutional care 10Patent and folk medicines 16Lady Bountiful 19CHAPTER TWODISTRICT NURSINGThe Village Nursing Association 25Queen Victoria's Jubilee Institute for Nurses 30The Rural Nursing Association 36Affiliation and Amalgamation 46CHAPTER THREEAIMS AND MOTIVATIONLady Administrators 55The Nurses 65CHAPTER FOURTHE NURSES: PROFESSIONAL AND SOCIAL STATUSRelationships with Doctors and Committees 82Social Background and Training of Queen's Nurses 89Training of Village Nurse-Midwives 98CHAPTER FIVETHE NURSES: WORKING LIVESWorkload 112Turnover of Staff 120CHAPTER SIXTHE NURSES: LIVING STANDARDSSalaries 132Accommodation 146CHAPTER SEVENTHE PATIENTSSocial Attitudes 161Rural Communities 171CONCLUSION 187BIBLIOGRAPHY 197INDEX