Winifred Emily Hector FRCN (21 December 1909 — 14 September 2002) was an English nurse and textbook author. She played a significant part in introducing modern curriculum and teaching methods to British nursing education.

Early life and education

Winifred Emily Hector was born at

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, the daughter of Sidney Charles Hector and Beatrice Dugdale Hector. Her father was an engine driver on the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

. She attended

Bishop Fox's School Bishop Fox's School is a mixed secondary school located in Taunton, Somerset, England. History The school traces its history back to the Taunton Grammar School or Tudor Grammar School endowed by the Bishop of Winchester, Richard Foxe, in 1522. ...

in Taunton, and completed 2 years of undergraduate study in English at

Bedford College, London file:Bedford College in York place - photographer is unknown but guess 1908.png, Bedford College was in York Place after 1874 Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for education of women, women in th ...

. However her

near-sightedness Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include ...

ended her academic studies, so she turned her attention to nursing, as a student at

St. Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (died ...

.Jane Brooks
"Hector, Winifred Emily (1909–2002)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press 2006). Much later in life, she was awarded a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree at

City University London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

, with research on the life of

Ethel Gordon Fenwick Ethel Gordon Fenwick (née Manson; 26 January 1857 – 13 March 1947) was a British nurse who played a major role in the History of Nursing in the United Kingdom. She campaigned to procure a nationally recognised certificate for nursing, to saf ...

, SRN 1, the first nurse on the General Nursing Council register 1921 refand a founder of the

International Council of Nurses The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is a federation of more than 130 national nurses associations. It was founded in 1899 and was the first international organization for health care professionals. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerl ...

Career

Hector trained as a nurse at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London where she was "taught by a very frosty tutor", with a very formal and rigid approach. ref Hector was in charge of nurses' preliminary training at the

Manchester Royal Infirmary Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) is a large NHS teaching hospital in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England. Founded by Charles White in 1752 as part of the voluntary hospital movement of the 18th century, it is now a major regional and nati ...

at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She ran a surgical ward at St. Bartholomew's during the

London Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

, treating mainly acute injuries of bombing victims. She moved into teaching, taking the position of senior tutor at the war's end. She established "one of the first university courses for nurses," at City University, beginning in 1968. Textbooks by Winifred Hector included ''Modern Gynaecology and Obstetrics For Nurses'' (1956, with John Howkins, revised 1963 and 1974 with Gordon Bourne), ''Modern Nursing: Theory and Practice'' (1960), ''A Textbook of Medicine for Nurses'' (1967, with

Gordon Hamilton Fairley Gordon Hamilton Fairley DM, FRCP (20 April 1930 – 23 October 1975) was a professor of medical oncology. Born and raised in Australia, he moved to the United Kingdom, where he studied and worked. He was killed by a Provisional Irish Republican ...

), and ''Nursing Care for the Dying Patient'' (1982). She also wrote an autobiography, ''Memoirs of a Somerset Woman'' (1997), and a book about nursing for lay readers, ''The Role of the Nurse'' (1977). Such was the success of her publications that she was a guest speaker at a Foyle's Literary Lunch She retired from St. Bartholomew's in 1970. For a decade after she retired, she was the programme leader of the 2 year Sister Tutor's Course at

Queen Elizabeth College Queen Elizabeth College (QEC) was a college in London. It had its origins in the Ladies' (later Women's) Department of King's College, London, England, opened in 1885 but later accepted men as well. The first King's 'extension' lectures for l ...

. until the final cohort completed in 1978. In 1970, she was one of the founding members of the board of the Medical Recording Service, a body founded to support quality film and audio productions for medical education. In 1976, she was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing. In 1978, she was script adviser on a series of ten films for nursing education."Winifred Hector filmography"
British Film Institute. Winifred Hector died in 2002, after several years of ill health, in London, aged 91 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hector, Winifred 1909 births 2002 deaths English nurses Nursing schools in the United Kingdom People from Taunton Fellows of the Royal College of Nursing British nurses