A New Year and an old story

Happy New Year

Last year was another 12 months of books and stories. Looking back at the top 9 from Instagram (@sarahwteaches) shows old books, new books, celebrations and information. The small red one in the centre was a lovely surprise that arrived along with a Christmas card from a family member. It belonged to my nan and is dated 1926. It is well thumbed and a nice bit of nursing history.

Whilst I admire people who set - and keep to! - new years resolutions, I prefer to make a list of things that I hope to do or achieve over the year ahead. On it this year will be significant time spent on a piece of research. This seems like the perfect time to dust off an old blog which appeared previously in my blog of a different name. I have edited it to freshen it up a bit and make it more relevant for this blog.

In 1747 Dr James Lind performed the first ever clinical trail. He took a group of sailors suffering from scurvy, which at that time was a major problem for the fleet, and divided them into groups. He gave them different substances – some far more unpleasant than others – to eat and drink based on traditional remedies. His trial proved that vitamin deficiency was the root cause of the disease and established lime juice as a vital store for long voyages. With his research into the treatment and prevention of scurvy and his work on ventilation below decks, James Lind is rightly credited as being a huge influence on the health of all sea-goers.

Returning to shore after many years in His Majesties service he was asked to be the leading physician at the (then under-construction) Haslar Naval Hospital. In addition to his Treatise for scurvy he also experimented and reported to the admiralty on distillation of sea water to provide fresh drinking water.  His name was commemorated in later years in the eponymous library at Haslar hospital and the Institute of Naval Medicine has a lemon tree in it's official crest in recognition of his work.

He is also honoured, in name, at the clinical research facilities at University Hospital Plymouth. I wonder how many people passing through this building realise how important his legacy is. He is recognised as the pioneer of  tropical disease medicine, occupational health and hygiene on seagoing vessels and is credited with saving thousands of lives and relieving the suffering of thousands more.

There are many research books out there and I suspect I will find many more over the next few months. I have been impressed with Succeeding in literature reviews and research projects for nursing students by Graham Williamson and Andrew Whittaker published by SAGE. It is suitable for student nurses (including apprentices) and also those undertaking post graduate research at level 7.

Another ambition for me for this year is to add to the book lists. I hope that through these someone might find something interesting or useful or inspiring. There are so many good books out there and sometimes it is hard to know where to start. Using recommendations - such as reading lists is a good place to start. 

I love hearing other peoples recommendations for books - ones that may help others, niche ones that don't have enough attention or the ones that you just feel the need to tell someone about. Please feel free to share them in the comments below.

- Happy Reading -