Antonia Harland-Lang, Museum and Events Coordinator at the RCN Library and Museum

 

In November 2023, the RCN Library and Museum launched a new exhibition, Once Upon a Time: A history of children and young people’s nursing. As well as exploring the history of children and young people’s (CYP) nursing, the exhibition championed the importance of CYP nurses today and to future generations of patients.

Collaboration has always been at the heart of RCN exhibitions – the Museum team work with the RCN’s history of nursing forum and usually another specialist nursing forum depending on the exhibition topic. However, this exhibition would be slightly different, aiming to involve RCN members even more closely in the exhibition-making process.

In April 2023, we put a call out to all RCN members inviting volunteers to work with us to co-curate the exhibition. We had hoped to get around eight volunteers but in the end over forty three members came forward. Ultimately, we ended up with a core group of twelve members who would be involved in every stage of the exhibition from researching key themes, to creating labels and loaning objects, to designing the final panels. A wider group of volunteers provided input through online focus groups and discussions.

[Figure 1] Exhibition volunteers exploring treasures from the RCN library collection

Why co-curation?

‘Co-curation’ can mean different things and involve different levels of consultation and participation. In this case, we wanted to hand over as much decision-making power as possible to the volunteer team. Most of the volunteers had first-hand experience of CYP nursing, either still working in the field or having worked within it for many years. They brought this lived experience and expertise to the table, having strong views on which assumptions they wanted to challenge and identifying a series of powerful key messages to be conveyed by the exhibition. The museum team was confident that this approach would help us co-create a more meaningful and authentic display.

At the same time, it was important that the project was mutually beneficial providing opportunities to learn new skills and meet new people. We organised training in research, object handling, and exhibition text writing. This underpinned the series of online focus groups, where volunteers worked together as a team to plan the exhibition.

Capturing first-hand experiences and object stories

Early on, the team decided that they wanted the display to show that:

  • Children are not just ‘small adults’, they have different health and care needs, which change as they grow and develop
  • Children and young people’s nursing is a specialist field within nursing which requires specialist training
  • Children and young people’s nursing has always been undervalued and had to fight for recognition
  • Children and young people’s nursing has often been ahead of the curve, influencing practices in other fields of nursing

Volunteers chose to convey these messages in different ways. Some took a deep dive into historical research, investigating, for example, the history of education and training in CYP nursing. In the final exhibition, this research was transformed into a striking timeline, juxtaposing developments in CYP nursing training with advances in children and young people’s rights.

[Figure 2] Herbie the Hedgehog glove puppet and colouring book, 1980s. Lent by exhibition volunteer, Angela Houlston

Others told stories through personal possessions from their own CYP careers. These ranged from puppets they had used to distract children having blood tests, to a cabbage patch doll with detachable feeding tubes that a volunteer had used as a student nurse to develop practical skills before working with real patients. These items were powerful and sometimes unexpected additions to the display. Beyond the exhibition, they have also provided ideas for acquisitions for the RCN’s growing museum object collection.

We were delighted that, as part of the exhibition events programme, a number of volunteers shared their research and personal nursing history journeys with a public audience. Feedback has been very positive. One member of the volunteer team told us that ‘Doing this research has reignited my passion for children’s nursing’.

An ongoing journey

The RCN Museum team hopes that Once upon a Time, will be the first of many co-curated exhibitions at the RCN. Earlier in 2024, we worked with another volunteer team alongside RCN forums to co-curate Shining a Light: A history of nursing support work. In April 2025, we will launch a co-curated exhibition exploring the history of prison nursing so watch this space!

********************************************************************************

Visit Once Upon a Time: A History of Children and Young People’s Nursing online here.https://www.rcn.org.uk/library-exhibitions/CYP-Once-Upon-A-Time

The RCN Library and Museum’s next exhibition, You Mean the World: Nursing in a Climate Crisis opened in London on 14 November 2024 and can be found at https://www.rcn.org.uk/library-exhibitions/Climate-Crisis

If you have an item to donate to the RCN Museum collection please visit our webpage here Donations and collecting | Library | Royal College of Nursing (rcn.org.uk)