ABSTRACT
This chapter evaluates the role of practice-related technologies in the changing work pattern of district nurses. The introduction of disposable materials and equipment, the Central Sterile Supply Departments (CSSD), materials technologies, pharmaceuticals, and further developments in communications and transport each made a contribution. The intention here is not to suggest a fully deterministic theory in which technology directly governed the development of district nursing. Rather we aim to demonstrate the powerful influence technological change had on what nurses did and how they did it, even at what is popularly considered to be the least specialized end of the profession.
