Nursing at University College Hospital, London, 1862-1948 : from Christian vocation to secular profession

This thesis examines the development of nursing at University College Hospital, London,\ud between 1862, the year in which the All Saints Sisters assumed responsibility for the\ud provision of nursing services at the hospital, and the introduction of the National Health\ud Service in July 1948. Although the care provided by the sisters marked a considerable\ud improvement on what had gone before, in 1899 they were replaced by nurses whose\ud motivation was professional rather than vocational. The profession of nursing was\ud confirmed by the Registration Act of 1919.\ud Following an introduction, the initial chapters of the thesis are concerned with defining\ud and developing the themes of Christian vocation and secular profession. Chapter four is\ud devoted to nursing management across the period, and the following chapter to patterns\ud of care. Prior to 1919 a system of primary care was in operation; this was superseded by\ud task allocation.\ud Chapters six and seven outline the introduction of nurse training in some of the London\ud teaching hospitals in comparison to the training of nurses at U.C.H. An analysis of the\ud probationer records from 1890 - 1948 demonstrates recruitment and retention through\ud these years. With the departure of the All Saints Sisters from U.C.H. in 1899 the school\ud of nursing was established. A preliminary training school was introduced in 1926; ten\ud years later University College Hospital school of nursing pioneered the block system of\ud training which became the norm for all schools of nursing after the Second World War.\ud The next two chapters concentrate upon nursing developments in wartime. The All\ud Saints Sisters were part of the British Red Cross team that served in the Franco-Prussian\ud War of 1870 and the hospital and its nurses were fully involved in the two World Wars.\ud Although this period saw the transformation of nursing at U.C.H. from a Christian\ud vocation to a secular profession, this thesis is as much concerned with continuity as with\ud change - for example in noting the similarities between rules for the probationers and for\ud the novitiates, which had continuing influence throughout the years of this study.\u