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Hidden Lives, Untold Stories: Nurses Beyond Nightingale

How many influential nurses from history can you name?

If you can’t get much further than Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole, join us to find out about the nurses added to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography for the WHO International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, a joint project between the RCN and the UK Association for the History Nursing (UKAHN).

Two hundred years after Florence Nightingale’s birth, most people recognise only a small number of nurses in history. Yet nurses have made huge contributions to healthcare history, from nursing in wartime, to mental health, and workhouses; while their roles include publishing, nursing professors, chief nursing officers, and local community district nursing.

Today, the vital role of nurses in the COVID-19 Pandemic is widely acknowledged, yet individuals are rarely recognised. Join us to hear from a group of nurses and historians who wrote the 27 new entries for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, published this year. From Annie Altschul, pioneer of mental health nursing, to Lisbeth Hockey, one of the first Professors of Nursing in the UK, find out how these nurses inspired and influenced the authors.

Please register to attend, and a link will be circulated in advance with instructions on how to join the meeting.