Crying in the Linen Cupboard... and Laughing in the Sluice: Trials and Triumphs of Trainee Nurses in the 1950s - Hardcover

Morris, Margaret

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1852001739 ISBN 13: 9781852001735

Publisher: United Writers Publications Ltd, 2015

Synopsis

1948, and in austerity Britain, food, clothing and fuel are still tightly rationed. The country is tired, shabby and bankrupt.

Against this background comes Aneurin Bevan's new National Health Service. The service that, free of charge, is going to look after us all 'from cradle to grave' or, as one wit has put it 'from lying in to laying out'.

Eleven young women, from a variety of backgrounds, start on their chosen career paths to become State Registered Nurses in this newly conceived service.

The difficulties and challenges that they meet, each in their own way, and the limitations they experience living in a regimented and highly hierarchical society, are all faithfully recorded through the authentic experiences of the author herself as the character of Margery Harvey, along with the fun, the humour and the camaraderie of her colleagues.

At this provincial northern hospital change is taking place, both in the health service itself and society in general. Meals are provided free for the first time and bed curtains introduced to give patients some privacy; the first black doctor appears and the first male nurse, but the nurses would still lose their jobs if they married!

Here is a slice of life from the fledgling beginnings of the National Health Service, and a reminder just how far it has now improved and advanced for staff and patients alike.

About this edition

• Publisher: United Writers Publications Ltd
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1852001739
• ISBN 13: 9781852001735
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 193