Preface

Annie planned carefully for her death. One of the things she did was to go through her papers and convey them to others. The main part of these she gave to the Royal College of Nursing archives, through Susan McGann, the RCN archivist. On one occasion she asked me to take some papers to Susan, and said that I could read them first if I wished, as they related to her visit to the U.S. in 1960-61 and she knew I was interested in her part in mediating British and American psychiatric nursing discourses (Tilley 1999).

I read the papers with great interest and fascination. Here, I thought, were primary documents relating to a key moment in the history of British psychiatric nursing. They gave an account of what she sought in the U.S., what she found, and what she did not find which she considered important. Most importantly for me, they gave insight into the origins of the MSc dissertation, published as Patient Nursing Interaction (Altschul 1972) - analysis of which has been the focus of my PhD dissertation and a long-running conversation or 'argument' between Annie and myself. The most fascinating documents, for me, were those relating to her time in Boston, her one-to-one relationship with a patient, and her relationship with her supervisor in Boston, June Mellow. As a teacher, who as student had taken Annies' work as touchstone for understanding psychiatric nursing, these accounts of Annie, the pre-eminent psychiatric nursing practitioner and teacher of her generation in the UK, taking the role of student and speaking up to her teacher / supervisor, were like gold.

I knew these works needed the widest possible readership among nursing practitioners, students, teachers and researchers, not only as historical documents but as living testimony to a great nurse's powers of observation, criticism, and love of those whom she served and from whom she learned. They were also the best expression of Annie's complex character I had read.

I mooted first with Annie, then with Susan McGann and Barbara Mortimer and colleagues in the Department of Nursing Studies where Annie was Professor Emeritus, whether the papers might form the basis for a celebration of her life and work. A celebration was timely, as Annie reminded us often that she was making no plans for the future. She was engaging with the process of helping me and others get used to the fact she was dying.

I helped build a team of contributors who knew Annie and whose views would give a sense of the spectrum of responses the papers might occasion. Each had something invaluable and unique to contribute - I will not detail this as their own papers do that better than I could. David Glenister gave me 'the key term - 'Festschrift' - saying it was appropriate both to the purpose and to Annie's linguistic origins. The title of the 17th November 2001 event - 'a one-day celebration of Annie Altschul's contribution to psychiatric nursing - past, present and future' - was 'Re-reading Altschul: A Festschrift in Honour of Professor Emeritus Annie Altchul CBE BA MSc RGN RMN RNT FRCN'.

Susan McGann played a vital role in offering the RCN's premises, financial and administrative support for the occasion, in planning, and in producing the publication of Annie's papers for the festschrift. Barbara Mortimer took a major role in planning the event, and has taken a major role in developing the web version of this publication. Prof. Kath Melia and Prof. Alison Tierney in the School of Nursing Studies, University of Edinburgh helped organise support, including a financial contribution from the Sheila Allan bequest. Numerous others contributed individually and collectively to making the event a success. On the day some 25 people gathered in a setting familiar to Annie. They had been sent and asked to read her papers in advance so they could take part in the conversation about them, with Annie and each other. In the morning session, they listened and responded to the six papers written for the occasion, including Annie's introduction. In the afternoon, we all became a 'big group', discussing Annie's US visit, her work, and the views of the presenters. Many in the group made rich offerings to what was, I think, a living expression not only of appreciation of Annie's work, but a thanks for that work, and for her life.

The occasion was filmed by Jack Shea, a documentary film maker. So we have that visual record of the event. This publication is another document, another contribution to the play of texts, readings, responses, which Annie loved and at which she was 'il miglior fabbro'.

This web publication includes a foreword by Dr Beverley Malone, General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing. Professor Altschul's six reports from her visit to the USA in 1960-61 are followed by her Introduction and five commentaries written for the occasion (by Shirley Smoyak, Peter Nolan, David Glenister, Phil Barker and Stephen Tilley). In the two appendices are a paper written for, but not given on the day and a list of those who attended and supported the event.

We plan a hard copy of these papers. Please contact Stephen Tilley for further information at:
s.tilley@ed.ac.uk

Stephen Tilley

Senior Lecturer
Nursing Studies
University of Edinburgh
31 Buccleuch Place
Edinburgh EH8 9JT
Scotland

January 2004

References:

Altschul A (1972) Patient-nurse interaction, Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh.

Tilley, S. (1999) Altschul's legacy in mediating British and American psychiatric nursing discourses: common sense and the 'absence' of the accountable practitioner. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 6 (4) 283-296.