CLICK HERE TO ADD YOUR EVENT

Nurses and Doctors 1660-1820: An Uneasy Alliance

Join Professor Alannah Tomkins at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh to explore the unstable working relationship between nurses and doctors in the time before nursing reform.

Nurses and Doctors 1660-1820: An Uneasy Alliance

About Nurses and Doctors 1660-1820: An Uneasy Alliance

Nurses working before the period of reform in the 1850s have popularly been written off as drunk and incompetent – but does this stereotype hold up to scrutiny?

This lecture will consider the lived experiences of women employed as nurses in the years between the final outbreak of plague and the birth of Florence Nightingale, and their interactions with male medical practitioners. The two occupational groups formed an uneasy and unstable alliance in private, in both domestic and institutional care settings, but public exposure generally saw this alliance break down. This lecture will also explore what the nurses might have thought about their problematic position in the work-place.

Professor Alannah Tomkins is a Professor of Social History at Keele University and author of Medical misadventure in an age of professionalisation, 1780-1890.

Tickets for this event cost £3. Bookings are available through the Eventbrite website link above.

Students and under 18s with ID cards and medical practitioners who are Fellows or Members of the College will be admitted free of charge.

Please email library@rcpe.ac.uk if you are a student, under 18 or a Fellow or Member of the College and would like to be added to the attendee list.

Sponsored Links

Open Pass Scotland
WST
Wonder & Co
Fayre Play
Escape The Past

Similar events you might like...

Guided Looking: An Artwork Audio Described

Guided Looking: An Artwork Audio Described

Selected dates between 20th February 2025 - 18th December 2025

Join Fiona Johnston, audio describer, as she describes various artwork and objects from the Royal Collection at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

READ MORE
Find Out Fridays

Find Out Fridays

Selected dates between 15th August 2025 - 19th December 2025

Explore a different theme each week on Friday afternoons, during school term-time, with our Learning team at the National Museum of Scotland.

READ MORE
Beneath the Surface: King’s Gallery Short Talks

Beneath the Surface: King’s Gallery Short Talks

Selected dates between 23rd October 2025 - 26th February 2026

Join our team at the Palace of Holyroodhouse for weekly gallery talks as part of the exhibition Drawing the Italian Renaissance!

READ MORE
Weekly Tours at St Cecilia’s Hall

Weekly Tours at St Cecilia’s Hall

Selected dates between 28th November 2025 - 17th December 2025

Join our team of volunteers at St Cecilia's Hall for a FREE weekly tour of the collection!

READ MORE
Information Lecture: Help and Healing on the Spiritual Path through the teaching of Bruno Groening

Information Lecture: Help and Healing on the Spiritual Path through the teaching of Bruno Groening

Selected dates between 30th November 2025 - 13th December 2026

A lecture about spiritual healing and help through the teaching of Bruno Groening is taking place at The Open Door Community Centre, Edinburgh on various dates throughout the year.

READ MORE
Drawing the Italian Renaissance: Curator’s Introduction

Drawing the Italian Renaissance: Curator’s Introduction

Selected dates between 5th December 2025 - 29th January 2026

Join exhibition curator Lauren Porter at The King's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse as she discusses works from Drawing the Italian Renaissance!

READ MORE
Life Of A Ghost Hunter

Life Of A Ghost Hunter

Selected dates between 13th December 2025 - 19th December 2025

How do real life ghost hunters hunt ghosts? Join Phantom Seekers Paranormal for a light hearted look at what goes into hunting ghosts, what we do and how we do it.

READ MORE
Public Lecture by Sir Steven Cowley

Public Lecture by Sir Steven Cowley

6th January 2026
Edinburgh South

Join the School of Physics and Astronomy at 50 George Square on Tuesday 6th January for a drinks reception followed by a lecture from Sir Steven Cowley!

READ MORE
Dan O’Neill: Snow Leopards In the Mountains of Kyrgyzstan

Dan O’Neill: Snow Leopards In the Mountains of Kyrgyzstan

15th January 2026

Follow Dan O'Neill as he leads an extreme conservation mission through the mountains of Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia, exploring snow leopard behavioural and spatial ecology using video camera traps.

READ MORE

Sponsored Links

The Chocolatarium
Hilton Glasgow
Local Motive Markets
Edinburgh Dungeon
Hostelworld
ATG

Find other events in Edinburgh

Sponsored Links

Open Pass Scotland
WST
Wonder & Co
Fayre Play
Escape The Past
The Chocolatarium
Hilton Glasgow
Local Motive Markets
Edinburgh Dungeon
Hostelworld
ATG

Popular Events

Panto 2025: Jack and the Beanstalk
Join Allan Stewart, Grant Stott and Jordan Young for the GIANT of a pantomime we've all BEAN waiting for!
Edinburgh’s Christmas: The Polar Ice Bar
Take some time to ‘chill’ at the Polar Ice Bar, the coolest bar in the city, where your table, chairs and glasses are sculpted entirely from ice.
Castle Of Light
Make Castle of Light: Fire and Ice part of your festive plans and enjoy the largest annual projection show in the UK when it returns for its sixth year!
Edinburgh’s Christmas: Around the World Starflyer
Try it if you dare! The Starflyer is back at Edinburgh's Christmas giving the finest, and most thrilling, views of the stunning city centre skyline!
The Snowman with Live Band
Join us on 23rd December at Greyfriars Kirk for a screening of The Snowman with live music from Whitburn Band.

Popular Listings

Corn Exchange Haddington Edinburgh Playhouse Festival Theatre Edinburgh Howden Park Centre Livingston Kings Theatre Edinburgh National Museum of Scotland O2 Academy Edinburgh The Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh Traverse Theatre Usher Hall