Interviews of Ena Forteath aged 78

Interview with Ena Forteath (b. 1935, Annan) about her life in nursing. Ena explains that she had always known she wanted to care for people after she saw wounded soldiers when she was 4 years old. She started at the Grove, in 1953, as a pre-nursing trainee. She describes life at the Grove: duties; shift patterns; uniform; hierarchy; foodways; religion; treatments and preparing injections. Ena than went on to Gribton where she received full training, which included travelling to Glasgow for oral exams. Ena's training was interrupted when she was in her second year and became pregnant. Her father rejected her and so she was taken to Glasgow to a Salvation Army home where she stayed for the final three months of her pregnancy. After her baby was born, Ena looked after the child for 6 weeks before passing them on for adoption. Ena was sent back to Dumfries shortly after. She recalled arriving in Dumfries at 4pm and starting work, in the children's ward, an hour later. This was a very hard time but Ena was glad to be able return to her studies and complete her training. Towards the end of the interview, Ena talks about returning to work after she had her own family and she reflects on the changes she has seen in nursing and also relates some funny anecdotes from her nursing career.