Nits, nurses and the war: school nursing before the National Health Service

A previous paper (published in the last issue of the 'International History of Nursing Journal') traced the origins of the school medical service and the work and employment of school nurses in the first years. The following account outlines the development of school nursing up to the period following the World War II. This takes place against a series of political and organisational changes, including those precipitated by both the World wars. Although there are frequent references to school nursing work in contemporary records, the voice of school nurses themselves is often missing. The sources used in writing this paper include the archives of the Health Visitors' Association and its predecessors (particularly the Women Public Health Officers' Association--the WPHOA) include records of the responses of a professional association for school nurses to proposed changes. Records of the School Medical Group (SMG) of the Society of Medical Officers of Health (Soc MOsH), including correspondence with the BMA, were also consulted. The records of both of these groups are held at the Contemporary Medical Archive of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine. Material kept at the Public Record Office was used, but papers relating to the years after 1969 remain closed under the 30-year rule. Relevant secondary sources were also used.