A study of nurses' work with patients suffering from life-threatening infection 1919-1939. (360G-Wellcome-085424_Z_08_Z)

There is a group of elderly people who nursed prior to the antibiotic era and the opportunity to collect their memories of nursing in this period will be lost if no action is taken in the next few years. Persons aged 18 in 1939 will be 89 in 2007. The documentary evidence so far identified offers little insight into the "how and experiences" of nursing care delivery in the pre-antibiotic era. The opportunity exists to capture oral histories for the decade before 1939. Additionally, some documentary evidence exists through diaries, journals of the time and other written records - The RCN Archives catalogue identifies some potential sources from this period. Of interest are the skills and approaches used by nurses in the period 1919-1939 for managing the seriously infected patient. The study will focus on nursing the patient with an infection as secondary to, or as a complication of, hospitalisation. Inevitably, management of the infection would require the nurse to take account of the potential for cross infection.