Wednesday 5 July 2017, 6-8pm

Royal College of Nursing, 20 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0RN

 

Find out more about life on ops past and present through this reading of real letters and emails from nurses in conflict situations to their friends and families, from Florence Nightingale’s letters in the Crimean War to recent accounts of Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

Letters from the archive, such as Pat Moody’s notes written from ‘the same bloody hospital’ throughout World War Two, offer an entertaining, and often sardonic, account of life as a military nurse in the Second World War. Today, letters have largely become emails: yet the accounts of currently serving nurses are no less affecting. This live reading by nurses, some of whom have served in conflict zones, recounts the truly human story of healthcare in conflict situations.

 

The letters read will include some from the RCN's Heritage Lottery Funded 'Service Scrapbooks' project, bringing to life the scrapbooks and diaries of First World War nurses including Mabel Pearce, Florence Blythe-Brown and Hilda Hand. The evening will end with a performance by RCN writer in residence Molly Case, of poetry inspired by the work of these nurses.

 

Nearest tube: Oxford Circus

Free, book online at: https://nursingonops.eventbrite.co.uk

Contact details for publication: 0345 337 3368 (local rate number) or [log in to unmask]

 

Dr Sarah Chaney
Audience Engagement Manager

Library & Archive Services
Royal College of Nursing
Room M02, 20 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0RN
Direct line: 020 7647 3602
Email: [log in to unmask]
www.rcn.org.uk 

Twitter: @RCNLibraries

 

Working days: Wednesday – Friday