ABSTRACT
Writing in 1942, a Chief Superintendent of the Queen’s Institute described district nursing as a “ ‘front line’ occupation and an essential war service.”1
In addition to providing a chronological overview of the development of district nursing through this period, this chapter evaluates the extent to which this front line image was an accurate picture and how the district nurse’s role changed during World War II (1939-1945) and in the immediate postwar period. Bearing in mind the ideological reconstructions that inevitably surround accounts of wartime experiences, we provide a context for some of those written at the time. Together with others related through oral history, these provide an impression of how events were seen at the time, how and why nurses’ roles and responsibilities were extended, and how daily workloads increased in different parts of Britain. Through this it will also be possible to assess the part played by district nursing in restructuring health care leading up to the NHS Act (1948). The effect this reorganisation had on relationships between the district nurses and other members of the emerging community health care team is part of this consideration.
