Dr Kirsty Harris – About Me
Nursing historian
My paternal grandmother was a nurse in the Australian Army Nursing Service during World War I which led me to research her war experience for my family. However, she is not the only nurse in my family; my maternal grandmother and younger sister were/are nurses and my mother was a mothercraft nurse. So nursing runs in the blood. However, as I have a bad needle phobia, I am the designated historian of the family profession. I formalised my research on completion of my PhD in history at the University of Melbourne in 2006 with my thesis ‘Not just routine nursing: the roles and skills of the Australian Army Nursing Service in World War I’. I spent ten years as an Honorary Fellow in the School of Historical Studies at the University of Melbourne.
I have published a number of articles relating to WW1 nurses which are listed here: https://independent.academia.edu/KirstyHarris1
Most articles are available for download.
This site also shows a number of presentations I have given about finding out about your military nursing relation or colleague, and lists my book, ‘More than Bombs and Bandages: Australian Army nurses at work in World War I’, published by Big Sky Publishing in NSW in 2011, and available here: https://www.bigskypublishing.com.au/dr-kirsty-harris/
