Records of the Association of Queen's Nurses/Association of District Nurses

The signed minutes of the Association of Queen's Nurses (V.4/1-2) were shelved in the QNI offices in Albemarle Way, with the Institute's minute books; the Association of District Nurses records are copies, found in an 'Archive' file, roughly in chronological order with a little correspondence and lists of committee members, and have been split into two files for case of reference.

1949-1971

1 file

The Queen's Nurses League was established with the help of the Association of Queen's Superintendents in 1939, as a body to represent the views of District Nurses.

The Association consisted of a President, a Vice-President, the General Superintendent and the Secretary of the Queen's Institute, and all nurses holding the large or small silver badge of the Institute, and provided a forum for discussion of matters of concern to public health nursing. It was run by a 20-strong committee including the representatives of the Superintendents on the council of the Institute, and twelve Superitnendents representing five regions (London and South Eastern, North Western, North Eastern, South Western and Midland, and East Midland) and Ireland.

The Queen's Nurses' League and the Association of Queen's Superintendents merged in 1949, deciding to keep the name 'Queen's Nurses' to become the Association of Queen's Nurses, rather than the suggested 'Queen's League of Public Health Nurses'. The General Superintendent of the Institute was the President of the Association and it acted almost as a branch of the Institute, which delegated to it matters relating to uniform and salaries, conditions of work, etc. The Association dealt with the former through its uniform sub-committee, and sent recommendations concerning the latter to the Royal College of Nursing. It also arranged refresher courses for Queen's Nurses, but that function was transferred in 1955 to the Institute's Education Department. In 1959, membership was opened up to non-Queen's district nurses, and the name was changed to the Association of District Nurses.

Records of the bodies, and the QIDN's records of its relations with them, are somewhat intermingled.

There is correspondence, 1952-1953, with the treasurer of the Association in the file on Leytonstone DNA (T.2/16)