Today marks 100 years since the Nurses Registration Act was introduced, bringing nurses together under one profession.
The Nurses Registration Act of 1919 set up the General Nursing Council, which was established in 1920. The council was required to maintain a register of nurses. The register distinguished between different specialities such as mental health nursing and paediatric nursing, as well as containing a general register for all those trained in general nursing and a supplementary register for male nurses (Fenwick, 1920). The act was the culmination of a campaign led by the Matron of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Ethel Fenwick.
Read more:
NMC - Always Caring, Always Nursing
RCN - Wake up, slackers!The great nursing registration controversy
