Gladys Beaumont Carter
Gladys Beaumont Carter | |
|---|---|
| Born | 21 April 1887 |
| Died | 8 December 1959 (aged 72) London |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Education | London School of Economics |
| Occupation(s) | economist, nurse, writer |
| Employer | University of Edinburgh |
| Known for | redesigning the education of nurses |
Gladys Beaumont Carter (21 April 1887 – 8 December 1959) was a British academic nurse, economist and writer. Her research led to the first academic university department for nursing in Europe at the University of Edinburgh.
Life
Carter was born in
In 1930 she was teaching midwifery and starting to campaign for higher educational standards in nursing. She was unusual in being both a graduate and a nurse and she believed this combination was the future. She apologised in the Nursing Times for applying economics to nursing but said that this was necessary beyond "vocation" and "self sacrifice". Nurses were learning how to cope and not how to assist in a better medical service.[3]
In 1934 she became the Organising Secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, then called the Midwife's Institute. She was the Education Officer and revised and published The Midwife’s Dictionary and Encyclopaedia in 1934[2] and again in 1939.[4]
In 1938 she published A New Deal for Nurses.[5][6] She wrote about the effect of rigid hierarchies and outdated discipline which encouraged bullying and created barriers to progress and the recruitment of nurses. She wrote about the ceremonies and forms created by matrons and ward sisters that created mental health issues for their subordinates.[7]
Carter began work with the University of Edinburgh in 1953. She had been teaching at the University of Toronto[2] but returned to do research funded by the Boots company. She was the first nurse to receive a research grant and her work was supported by the Scottish branch of the Royal College of Nursing and Edinburgh University.[5] From 1952, she reviewed the existing course for tutors of nursing in Edinburgh and compared it with three alternative courses in England. In 1956 the university opened the first department of nursing in Europe for academic study. The new course was two years long and all of the students were required to meet the entrance requirement of the university. This course and department was inspired by Carter's work, a university working party and a 1955 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.[2][5]
Death and legacy
Carter became ill in 1956. Elsie Stephenson who did not have a nursing background became the new director of the "Nursing Unit" at the university.[8] Carter joined the university of Edinburgh's Medical faculty.[5] Carter had published A Dictionary of Midwifery and Public Health in 1954 and after she died in hospital in London in 1959[2] there was a second edition.[9]
References
- ^ "A history of the London Early Years Foundation". LEYF Nurseries. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8, retrieved 2024-02-07
- ^ Carter, Gladys (Nov 1930). "Scarcity of Entrants to the Nursing Profession - letter to the editor". Nursing Times: 308.
- ^ M.D.), Henry Robinson (M A.; Carter, Gladys Beaumont (1939). The Midwife's Dictionary and Encyclopaedia. Faber & Faber.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55238-112-0.
- ^ "Carter, Gladys B. (Gladys Beaumont)". Wellcome Collection. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ISBN 978-1-5261-0285-0.
- ^ "The Glasgow Herald – Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ISBN 978-0-571-05354-4.