From Victorian asylums and wartime volunteers to nursing assistants and care workers today, this exhibition uncovers the long history and diversity of nursing support work.
Exhibits include a handmade magazine created by a young Agatha Christie when she was a volunteer nurse in the First World War, on loan from the British Psychoanalytical Society Archive. Never previously displayed, the magazine gives a vivid insight into the resilience and camaraderie of volunteer nurses at a time of national emergency.
The exhibition shines a light on the personal stories of nursing support workers today, celebrating the contribution they continue to make – in hospital wards, care homes, clinics and communities.
Shining a Light was put together in close collaboration with a group of RCN member volunteers who are support workers or work closely with support workers, and the RCN Nursing Support Worker Committee.
The exhibition also includes artwork created by Welsh care home residents working with their support workers and artist, Alice Briggs.
Other objects on display include items from Bethlem Museum of the Mind, Chester Riverside Museum, the Christie Archive Trust, Glenside Museum, the Red Cross Museum and Archives, and Barts Health NHS Trust Archives.
