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Pupil nurses Nurse training Psychiatric nursing Making friends Living in the Nurses' Home Caps, Uniforms and Discipline Allied Health Professionals Doctors and Dentists

A positive experience Bracking through discrimination Introducing innovations Working and children Doctors and Dentists Improving chances for others

Personal Satisfaction

Diversity in the NHS

Tryphena Anderson

Tryphena Anderson was born in Jamaica. She attended a Church of England school. Aged 19 she left Jamaica for England in December 1952, just a week after leaving school. She travelled by boat on the HMS Franconia from New York to Liverpool. She did her nurse training at Nottingham General Hospital, working as a junior nurse. She went on to do psychiatric nursing at the Coppice Hospital, Nottingham. In the early 1960s she did postgraduate training and in 1966 qualified as a midwife. That year too she became the first black person to receive a bursary to train as a health visitor. In 1988 she bought a nursing home, which she ran until 2002.

Tryphena Anderson, 2005

Joyce Bleasdille-Lumsden

Joyce Bleasdille-Lumsden was born in Grenada. She attended St David's RC School and the Anglican School. In 1952 she left school, aged 15. She did voluntary work in hospitals, and worked as a probationer before leaving Grenada for England in 1960. She travelled to England by ship. She trained at Tynesdale General Hospital, Buckinghamshire, one of only five black nurses from the Caribbean. In 1962 she transferred to Colindale. She went on to qualify as a midwife at Luton Maternity in 1967. She worked as a ward sister until 1974 and from then until 1993 worked as a community sister. Now retired, she remains active fundraising for community projects in the UK and Grenada.

Joyce Bleasdille-Lumsden, 2005

Muriel Bussue

Muriel Bussue was born in St Kitts. She left school when she was 16 and worked as a seamstress. In 1956 her husband left for England to find work. Two years later, when she was in her mid-20s, she and her children travelled to England by ship to join him. Later she applied to train as a nurse and, despite some initial resistance from her husband, managed to combine nursing with parenting. She worked as a nurse in the NHS for 33 years. Now retired, she continues to do voluntary work in the community. Two of her children have followed her into the medical profession.

Muriel Bussue, 2005