Nurse on call: Tales of a Blackcountry district nurse - Hardcover

Cotterill, Edith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0712695214 ISBN 13: 9780712695213

Publisher: Century, 1986

Synopsis

Training in a hospital in the 1930s, Edith Cotterill's long hours on the wards included encouraging leeches to attach to patients (a task much harder than you might think) and the disposal in the furnace of amputated limbs. Although hospital life did have its compensations – it was there during the war that she met an injured sailor who was to become her husband. After the birth of her two daughters, Edith returned to work in the 1950s as a district nurse. Whether she was ridding ageing spinsters of fleas or dishing out penicillin and enemas, Edith always approached even the most belligerent of patients with humour, compassion and warmth.

About this title

About the Author:

Edith Cotterill was born in Tipton, Staffordshire, during a Zeppelin raid in 1916. She joined the nursing profession in 1934, working at Standon Orthopaedic Hospital and Margaret General and District Hospital, and married a sailor in the Royal Navy in 1940. After the birth of her two daughters, she returned to nursing as a district nurse back in Tipton. She died in 1997.

Review:

"Brilliant ... a rare book of truth and insight containing hilarious and soul wrenching stories of patients, hospital practice and colleagues, wartime traumas and post-war austerity. Ending with one of the most tragic and moving stories I have ever read" -- Jennifer Worth, bestselling author of CALL THE MIDWIFE "Touching and tender, full of comic but courageous characters, Edith Cotterill's Nurse on Call goes straight to the heart" She "Ought to provide the perfect antidote to today's bureaucratic National Health Service" Daily Mail "Heartwarming" Yours

About this edition

• Publisher: Century
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0712695214
• ISBN 13: 9780712695213
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 218