[From isolated work to teamwork? Changes in Western German community nursing from 1950 to 1980]

Community nursing in Western Germany has received little attention from nurse historians. The period from 1950 to 1980 can be seen as a major shift from the single nurse's independent work to more teamwork. So far, changes during this period have not been analysed from the perspective of individual nurses. To illuminate this period of change, primary historical sources including archives and contemporaneous reports and journals were analysed. In addition an oral history approach was used to get an awareness of individual nurses' experiences. For this purpose interviews with five community nurses were conducted. Changes during the analysed period were perceived from different angles by the nurses. The analysis of the journal texts written by nurses and the interviews revealed the following categories: independence and freedom, working together, bureaucracy. Not all nurses were happy to lose the independence in their work. The new teamwork was not always welcomed although some nurses recognised the advantages of supporting each other. Increasing bureaucracy was a topic raised in the interviews but not in the journals. It can be concluded that the oral history approach is a suitable method to give individual nurses a voice.