Nurses, c. 1981

[pica_scribit]

How would a nurse in a hospital in London have been dressed, c. 1981? Uniform? Colours? Name tag? How common were male nurses at the time? I like to mix up gender expectations in my stories when I can, but if a male nurse was unlikely, I want to be realistic about it.

ETA: Thanks, everyone! I think I have the info I need.

Comments

[lilacsigil]

My mum was a nurse in 1981, and there was a grand total of one male nurse to about 850 female nurses. People kept calling him "Doctor".

Uniforms vary by hospital, job and department, so you'll need to be more specific about that.

[pica_scribit]

I don't have a specific hospital in mind, but Remus is being treated for acute bacterial pneumonia, if that helps. This would be a nurse who is just checking up on him periodically, taking his pulse, monitoring his breathing, etc....

[lilacsigil]

My mum was in the Children's Ward and also a surgical nurse so I can't help with "general" uniform - navy and white is my vague memory, no hats, and most wore a nurse's watch, though not the male nurse.

[veronica_milvus]

Usually a short sleeved dress in a small blue and white check for the basic State Registered Nurse. A small white hat was common. Dark tights and black flat shoes. Sometimes nurses would have a stretchy belt in different colours denoting their level of training. Senior nurses ie staff nurses or ward sisters were in plain dark blue. Male nurses were rare but mostly congregated on mental health wards.

[pica_scribit]

Cheers! This is very helpful.

[k425]

I worked at King's College Hospital (London) from 1985-1989.In my training set, there was one bloke, and 40 women. I worked with more male nurses in the 6 weeks I spent on the mental health placement than the rest of my training. And I worked with one midwife who was not only male, but trained in midwifery while serving in the Navy.

http://dyk2.homestead.com/kings.html shows exactly what we wore - blue-striped dress, starched (no, really, with Robin starch and everything) white cotton apron, starched white cotton hat - there were a variety of hats depending on which year you were in - and belt.

[inamac]

Belt colours were different too, weren't they? Rather like martial arts!

[k425]

Yup, white belt for first years, then 'red' - maroon - then green for SRN/RGN. I think SENs had green and white belts.

[inamac]

There are some (very small) photos of Guy's nurses from the 1980s here

There were very few male nurses - though, as I worked for an NHS Area Health Authority at the time I knew a number who tended to be 'spokesmen' for the profession rather than spending actual time on the wards (a problem with all minorities in professions in the 80s).

[persevero]

I just consulted a friend who is a senior nurse and trained in the early eighties. Her reply is