Doreen Norton

Doreen Norton, OBE, FRCN (1 May 1922, in Dartford, Kent – 30 December 2007, in Worthing, West Sussex) was an English nurse, in the 1950s she used research to show that the best treatment and prevention of bedsores was removing the pressure by turning the patient. She also helped to design the Kings Fund bed, a new type of hospital bed now widely used. Norton was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing, received an honorary fellowship from the University of the South Bank in London, and a ward in Lewisham University Hospital was named after her.

Life Norton was born on 1 May 1922 in Dartford in Kent. Her father owned a refrigeration engineering firm, and her mother was a mental nurse. Norton's first job after leaving school at 14 was in her father's firm. Norton showed that the most effective treatment was to relieve the pressure, by turning patients regularly. Norton's study helped change nursing practices to effectively treat pressure ulcers, which were at that time a major killer of hospital inpatients. She was appointed an OBE in 1977. She received an honorary fellowship from the University of the South Bank in London, and a ward in Lewisham University Hospital was named after her (The Doreen Norton Ward).