[NV034] : Jane at St George's 1951-1980 (vars)


Jane: St. George's 1951-1980 Click photo to read and listen to her story

Jane was born in July 1932 in Polstead, Suffolk, the only child of - what seemed to her - quite elderly parents. Her mother was 37 when she was born. Her favourite aunt was a nurse and Jane liked the look of her photos in uniform, with the big starched veil.

She began the three-month PTS programme on 1st. January 1951. Being in London was exciting.

She did not get a posting at Tooting during her student days although quite a lot of her colleagues did.

Jane qualified in 1954. After one year, she went to do midwifery training. She did not particularly want to be a midwife but they were all very aware they needed a second qualification. She undertook the second part of the course at Ipswich. While doing her second part midwifery, she received a letter from Miss Powell asking her to return to St. George’s as a Sister.

She did 18 months of night duty and then Jane went to Tooting and became ward Sister of a small men’s medical ward with 18 beds under Dr. (later Sir Kenneth) Robson, a chest physician. She embarked on an informal teaching programme. She got involved with teaching and enjoyed it.

A chance remark from a friend, who was a night Sister at HPC, brought Jane to Rhodesia for 18 months on her return she got a job for 18 months working for an information service to architects in London and then she got married.

When her husband’s work brought them back to central London, she decided to return to St. George’s. She simply contacted Miss Powell and got a job in the school of nursing at Tooting, without any teaching qualification. After a short time she did the RCN clinical teacher’s course, she later also did the King’s Fund clinical teacher’s course, which was residential and experimental, this was in 1966.

Afterwards she returned to Tooting as a clinical teacher. Her husband’s career meant they moved frequently, firstly to Southport, and then soon afterwards to Derbyshire. She did not work again for nine years. She returned to work because she had a divorce and did one year’s clinical teaching at the Derby Royal Infirmary.

After a year on her own she returned to London and the School of Nursing. For two happy years she helped the tutor in charge of the pupil nurse training.

In 1980 she worked for two years as a conventional ward-based clinical teacher at her local Kingston-on-Thames Hospital. Afterwards she was appointed to the post-basic education team, running workshops on communication and assertiveness skills and management courses. Then she remarried and returned to Derbyshire.

To read & listen to Jane's experiences whilst at St George's please click on Jane's Story