History of Nursing

Anionwu E (2021) Dreams from my mother. Revised edn. London: Orion publishing.

• Access through RCN Library

Borsay A and Dale P (2015) Mental health nursing: the working lives of paid carers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

• Access through RCN Library

Cohen S (2018) The district nurse: a pictorial history. Barnsley: Pen & Sword History.

• Access through RCN Library

Corduff E (2021) Ireland’s loss - Britain’s gain: Irish nurses in Britain nightingale to millennium. South Croydon: Rainbow Valley Books.

• Access through RCN Library

D'Antonio P (2013) Routledge handbook on the global history of nursing. Abingdon: Routledge.

• Access through RCN Library

Gates B, Griffiths P, Atherton H L et al. (2020) Intellectual disability nursing: an oral history project. Bingley: Emerald.

• Access through RCN Library

Graham M (2013) Nurses voices from the Northern Ireland troubles: personal accounts form the front line. London: RCN Publishing.

• Access through RCN Library

McGann S, Crowther, A and Dougall R (2009) A history of the Royal College of Nursing, 1916-1990: A voice for nursing. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

• Access through RCN Library

Nightingale F (2012) Notes on nursing: what it is and what it is not. New York: Dover Publications.

• Access through RCN Library

Palmer, J (2021) Nurse memoirs from the Great War in Britain, France and Germany. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

• Access through RCN Library

Palmer D (2014) Who cared for the carers? A history of the occupational health of nurses, 1880-1948. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

• Access through RCN Library

Rafferty A M (2021) Germs and governance: the past present and future of hospital infection, prevention, and control. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 

• Access through RCN Library

Rappaport H (2022) In search of Mary Seacole: the making of a cultural icon. London: Simon and Schuster.

• Access through RCN Library

Sweet H and Hawkins S (eds.) (2015) Colonial caring: A history of colonial and post-colonial nursing. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

• Access through RCN Library

Williamson, L. (2023) The global voice of nursing: a history of the International Council of Nurses from 1899 to 2022. Geneva: International Council of Nurses.

• Access through RCN Library

Wood, P (2022) New Zealand nurses: caring for our people 1880-1950. Dunedin: Otago Press. 

• Access through RCN Library

Use these links to see details of books the RCN libraries hold on each topic.

• History of nursing
• Hospital history
• Nursing biography
• Oral history
• Second World War

We would like to thank the RCN History of Nursing member community for their input into the development of this subject guide.

Use these links for details of journal articles on each topic.

• History of nursing
• Military nursing history
• Nursing education history
• Psychiatric nursing history

Journals of interest for the history of nursing. Use these links to see details of availability.

• The UKAHN Bulletin – UK Association for the History of Nursing
• Medical History
• Nursing History Review
• Oral History

Online Library Exhibitions

• Explore some of the past and present exhibitions at the RCN's Library and Museum in London.
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Library Events

• Check our upcoming events.
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Our Permanent Collection consists of nursing specific core items and rare items. It is viewable by appointment at the RCN Library and Heritage Centre.

• Visit the Special Collections homepage

Here is a small selection of items form our collection.

Baly M (1980) Nursing and social change, London: Heinemann.

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Grove EW (1917) Text-book for nurses anatomy, physiology, surgery and medicine, London: Henry Frowde.

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Nightingale F (1865) Organization of nursing : an account of the Liverpool Nurses' Training School, its foundation, progress, and operation in hospital, district, and private nursing, Liverpool: A. Holden.

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Rathbone W (1868) Workhouse nursing : the story of a successful experiment, London: Macmillan.

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The RCN Library and Museum holds an unrivalled range of English language nursing journals from around the world. The earliest issues date back to 1888 with titles covering a wide variety of nursing fields.

If you are a member of the RCN you have access to a digitised collection of 22 nursing journals from the Royal College of Nursing Collection covering dates from 1891 to 1986. It contains information about nursing, hospitals, wards, staff, illness and diseases, medicine and treatments, hospital equipment and events.

Nursing Record/British Journal of Nursing (1888-1956)

• Digitised journal available online.
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Nursing Times (1905-1987)

• Viewable by appointment at the RCN Library and Heritage Centre.
  View journal details

The RCN Archive contains some of the most important collections dedicated to the history of the nursing profession in the UK. Visitors by appointment in Edinburgh.

Collections related to the history of nursing include:

• Royal College of Nursing Archive 1916 – present. Search the Archives Catalogue (Ref No = RCN*)
• Personal Papers. Search the Archives Catalogue (Ref No = C*)
• Badges and medals. Search the Archive catalogue (Any Text = badge).
• Oral History collection. Search the Archives Catalogue (Ref No = T)
• Photographic collection. Images are available in the Archive catalogue (search Any Text = photograph)
• Postcard collection. Search the Archives catalogue (Any Text = postcard)
• Records of other nursing organisations. Search the Archives catalogue (Ref No = QNIS*)

RCN Archive

• RCN Archive
• RCN archive catalogue
• RCN Digital Archive
• RCN Members can explore the records of past events, such as Congress and Annual General Meetings, using the Digital Archive for Members.
  RCN Digital Archive for members
• Royal College of Nursing Bulletin (1920-1926)
• Royal College of Nursing Annual Reports (1917 – 2017)