Barbara McNulty

Barbara McNulty (1917 - 2008) FRCN was a nurse known for her work with Dame Cecily Saunders in developing the UK hospice service and the world’s first community palliative care service.

Early life

Barbara McNulty (née Young) was born in 1917 in Blackheath, London. Her mother died when she was a child leading to a distancing of her relationship with her father after his remarriage. At the age of 17 McNulty competed in the 1934 British Empire Games as a swimmer. She trained at St Thomas's Hospital, London between 1937-1940 helping to receive casualties from the evacuation of Dunkirk. She appears on the Nursing Register in 1941.[1] In 1942 after qualifying, she joined the Colonial Nursing Service and gained a passage to the Middle East. She married an American journalist but the marriage ended in 1956.[2] McNulty said that her commitment to palliative care began when her first child died at the age of three.[3]

Career

McNulty worked overseas until 1960 thereafter returning to England and working as a district nurse in Gloucester where she joined the Taena Community, a Catholic rural commune.[4][2][5]

McNulty's work in district nursing bought her into contact with the hospice movement and a period of correspondence with Dame Cecily Saunders. Dame Cecily invited McNulty to join St Christopher's Hospice planning committee and then in 1967 to become one of the hospice's first ward sisters.[2][6][7] McNulty had been chosen by Saunders for this role because of her community nursing work.[8]

McNulty was a "key figure" in the establishment of the home palliative care because of her work with Mary Baines[9][10] on the Home Care Services from St Christophers, the world's first community palliative care service.[11][12][3][13] McNulty and Baines visited patients and liaised with medical services to develop a model of care.[14][15] She developed extensive experience in hospice work.[16]

Throughout the 1970's and after retirement McNulty spread the hospice idea in the UK and beyond through lectures and contribution to journals.[17][18][19] She was also a regular reviewer of books and articles.[20][21]

McNulty retired from nursing in 1977 and subsequently undertook a counselling course with The Westminster Pastoral Foundation.[22][23] However she continued to contribute to issues around end of life care, bereavement and longevity by writing, speaking and counselling.[24][25][26]

Awards

In 1977 McNulty was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing, (FRCN).[27]

Publications

  • McNulty, Barbara (1983). "Emotional aspects". In Collins, Sheila; Parker, Edith (eds.). An introduction to nursing. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Death

Barbara McNulty died in 2008.[2]

References

  1. ^ "UK & Ireland Nursing Registers, 1898 - 1968". Ancestry UK. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "McNulty, Barbara". Royal College of Nursing Archive Catalogue. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  3. ^ a b Laurence, Dobson (6 August 2008). "Obituary". The Nursing Standard. 22: 33.
  4. ^ "Taena Community". The Catholic Worker. 23 (4): 3. 1 November 1956. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  5. ^ Day, Dorothy (1963-11-01). "Newsletter On Pilgrimage (November 1963)". Catholic Worker Movement. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  6. ^ Baines, Mary (September 2013). "A history of homecare: The pioneer days: Talk given at the Cicely Saunders Institute, London, UK, 24 September 2012". Progress in Palliative Care. 21 (4): 200–203. doi:10.1179/0969926013Z.00000000077. ISSN 0969-9260.
  7. ^ "News of Members". The Nightingale Fellowship Journal (80): 48. January 1969. Retrieved 11 July 2025 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals Collection, Female Forerunners Worldwide, Cengage-Gale.
  8. ^ Baines, Mary (July 2012). "Bringing hospice home: the real story of palliative care: Talk given at the 7th Irish Annual Palliative Care Symposium in Dublin, April 2012". Progress in Palliative Care. 20 (3): 154–157. doi:10.1179/1743291X12Y.0000000010. ISSN 0969-9260.
  9. ^ Small, Neil (2001). "Social Work and Palliative Care". The British Journal of Social Work. 31 (6): 961–971. ISSN 0045-3102.
  10. ^ Clark, David (2002-09-19). Cicely Saunders - Founder of the Hospice Movement: Selected letters 1959-1999. Oxford University Press. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-19-166060-3.
  11. ^ Clark, David (2002-09-19). Cicely Saunders - Founder of the Hospice Movement: Selected letters 1959-1999. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-166060-3.
  12. ^ Beaumont, Josephine; Burch, Rosemary (July 1978). "The Domiciliary Service at St. Christopher's Hospice". The Nightingale Fellowship Journal. 10 (99): 39–40. Retrieved 11 July 2025 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals Collection, Female Forerunners Worldwide, Cengage-Gale.
  13. ^ Merriman, Anne (20 August 2005). "Cicely Saunders Spirit: book review: Cicely Saunders Founder of the Hospice Movement: Selected Letters 1959 -1999". The Lancet. 366: 626. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67124-3. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  14. ^ Doyle, Derek (1987). 1986 International Symposium on Pain Control. Royal Society of Medicine Services. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-905958-55-2.
  15. ^ Larkin, Philip Joseph (2016). Compassion: The Essence of Palliative and End-of-life Care. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-870331-0.
  16. ^ Hobson, Robert F. (1970). "My Own Death". New Blackfriars. 51 (605): 469–479. ISSN 0028-4289.
  17. ^ McNulty, Barbara (December 1971). "St. Christopher's Outpatients". American Journal of Nursing. 71 (12): 2328–2330. eISSN 1538-7488. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
  18. ^ McNulty, Barbara (6 January 1973). "Continuity of Care". British Medical Journal. 1 (5844): 38–39. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.5844.38-a. PMID 4683642. ProQuest 1776262672. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  19. ^ McNulty, Barbara; Jepson, V (January 1974). "DEATH". Nursing Research. 23 (1): 89. doi:10.1097/00006199-197401000-00056. Retrieved 15 August 2025 – via Lippincott-Raven Publishers.
  20. ^ McNulty, Barbara (20 October 1982). "The Neglected Ethic: Religious and cultural factors in the care of patients". Nursing Times London England. 78 (42). Retrieved 13 August 2025 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals Collection, Female Forerunners Worldwide Cengage-Gale.
  21. ^ McNulty, Barbara (26 June 1975). ""A Complex Problem"". Nursing Times London England. 71 (26). Retrieved 14 August 2025 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals Collection Female Forerunners Worldwide Cengage-Gale.
  22. ^ "People, RCN fellowships announced". The Nursing Times London England. 73 (45): 1735. 10 November 1977 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals Collection, Female Forerunners Worldwide, Cengage-Gale.
  23. ^ "News of Members". The Nightingale Fellowship Journal, London England (96): 247. January 1977 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals Collection, Female Forerunners Worldwide, Cengage-Gale Accessed 28 July 2025.
  24. ^ McNulty, Barbara (15 December 1977). "Longevity and loss Helping the old to adapt to change". Nursing Times London England. 72 (39). Retrieved 11 August 2025 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journal Collections, Female Forerunners Worldwide Cengage-Gale.
  25. ^ "Rcn debates death and the care of those left living". Nursing Times London UK. 72 (39). 30 September 1976 – via RCN Historical Nursing Journals Collection Female Forerunners Worldwide Cengage Gale Accessed 11 August 2025.
  26. ^ Salvage, Jane A matter of life and death Nursing Times 1981 Volume 77 Issue 43 accessed 6 August 2025
  27. ^ "RCN Fellowship and Honorary Fellowship Roll of Honour" (PDF). rcn.org.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
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