The Operating Room a Personal History

Abstract

This is the first of two articles based on a presentation given at NATN Congress 2004. The presentation was given as the Daisy Ayris Memorial Lecture. In this article NATN archivist Nancy Cox describes her experiences working in the operating room beginning in the 1950s.

Reflections on a Perioperative Career: 1970–2008

“…These 14 weeks were amongst the happiest of my three years of training. Cox (2005) remembers her student theatre experiences in the early 1950s as an ordeal at the hands of powerful and rude consultants who shouted at nurses, and was pleasantly surprised when she returned to a much more amenable situation as a…”

“…Today this sort of behaviour would be classed as bullying or 'negative oppression' (Hamlin 2000) and would also be recognised as typical of the time by Cox (2005). As a small workforce we did feel oppressed, but the camaraderie and selfgenerated support system that evolved from it have stayed with me ever since, indeed I remain in touch with some of my colleagues from the 1970s.…”

Interdisciplinary Working Relationships of Health Care Staff in Late 20th Century Britain: A Cultural Study of Practices from the Past and Implications for the Present

“…Personal narratives also exist. Practitioners who worked during the 20th century in the UK healthcare system such as Cox (2005), Graham & Orr (2013) and Bayer & Oppenheimer (2002) all talk about their experiences. However, when interdisciplinary working is mentioned, it is usually woven into the overall story.…”