Yes Matron
A history of nurses and nursing at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast
Peggy Donaldson
Sold Out
In 1797, a tiny, six–bedded fever hospital wn a poor part of Belfast, and a single nurse was taken on to care for its patients. Nothing is known of who she was how she coped, or what became of her a few months later, when the epidemic passed and the hospital closed.
The hospital, of course, went on to become the Royal Victoria. That its first nurse should be such a completely anonymous figure will hardly come as a revelation to nurses, for the work of the nurse has long been taken for granted and her praises left unsung.
Yes Matron is a spirited – and some would say, overdue – attempt to remedy this lack and write the nurse back into history. It tells the fascinating story of nursing at the Royal from 1797 to the present day in a candid and entertaining way; exploring both great events and small; from the impact of wears and devastating epidemics, to the dramas joys and disappointments of everyday hospital life. We hear of the 'angels' and the awesome matriarchs, such as Sister Dynes, who was feared and respected by generations of nurses, patients and doctors alike.
Peggy Donaldson, herself a nurse for over ten years, tells their story with humour and compassion. Drawing both on her own experience and a rich vein of oral and archive material, she has created a fresh and readable narrative that will delight, surprise and be treasured by anyone with an interest in nursing.
Book Details
ISBN 1 870132 15 7
Paperback 200 pages
Other local history books
- Portavo: an Irish Townland and its peoples Part one: earliest times - 1844
- Portavo: an Irish Townland and its peoples Part two: the famine to the present
- Two Centuries of Life in Down, 1600-1800
- Newtown, A History of Newtownards
- A Taste of Old Comber, The Town & its History
- Donaghadee: An Illustrated History