Margaret Cooper (nurse)

Cooper was born on 23 March 1922.[1] She was the oldest daughter of Canon Bernard and Jean Cooper, and was raised in Oadby.[2] Cooper had two sisters. She was educated at the School of St Mary and St Ann (now called Abbots Bromley School).[3]

Cooper completed her nurse training at Leicester Royal Infirmary, where she was awarded a gold medal for being the hospital's best student.[2] She later learned to become a midwife at General Lying-In Hospital.[1] Cooper started education in nursing at Middlesex Hospital as their nurse tutor.[2] A Nightingale scholarship funded her to travel to Scandinavia and went to several nurse-training institutes. During this period, Cooper developed a view that theoretical knowledge should be applied alongside practical training,[3] which would allow nurses to improve their understanding of their roles in the National Health Service.[1] She set herself the objective of improving the competence and education of nurses in the United Kingdom.[3]

Cooper held a principal tutor position at Northampton General Hospital, and later at Addenbrooke's Hospital.[1] She later was appointed principal of Queen Elizabeth School of Nursing. While in that position, Cooper developed a new curriculum which mixed practical nursing skills that were supervised by clinical tutors with theory study.[3] She served as chief education officer for the General Nursing Council of England and Wales from 1974 to 1982.[2] Cooper carried over her curriculum to the Council.[3] In 1980, she was awarded an OBE for her services to nurse education.[4] Cooper was also president of the Guild of St Barnabas for Nurses, which provided nurses with spiritual support.[1]

She retired to Saffron Walden, Essex.[2] Cooper completed a degree with the Open University, and volunteered with a bereavement counselling charity called Cruse. In 1998, she wrote a paper called The Best and Worst of Care during Recovery from a Stroke for the Royal Commission for the Long-term Care of the Elderly.[1] After her health deteriorated and she lost her sight, she spent her final years in a nursing home in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire.[3] Cooper died on 15 September 2013.[1]