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= Charlotte Regina Kratz (MBE, FRCN, nurse educator) = Charlotte Regina Kratz (5th May 1922 – 3rd October 2006) was a nurse known for being a champion of community nursing, both in the UK and internationally and the editor of The Nursing Process.

Early life
Kratz was born in Dortmund, Germany, the only child of Norbert and Johanna Kratz.

Her parents sent her to Storrington School in Westcliffe-on-Sea, Essex, England in 1937 to escape the persecution of the Jewish People in Germany.

To enable her parents to escape Germany, the headmistress offered to stand security for them in order that they could join their daughter in England. Due to bureaucratic bungling their papers were not completed before the outbreak of the Second World War. Her parents were sent to a concentration camp and Kratz never saw her father and mother again after she left Germany.

Kratz was seriously ill as a teenager, spending nearly a year in hospital. It was then that she decided to become a nurse. In Germany nursing was a "non-job" and she had never considered it.

Nursing career
Kratz started her nurse training at St Thomas’ Hospital in 1944 after spending two years trying to get in. St Thomas took time to accept her as a student. She gained a bronze medal for her training. She failed her final exams at the first attempt because she said she would give a drug to a patient in an emergency even if it was not written up.

She spent time at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh 'in practicum' (work placement) because of restrictions on foreign nationals during the Second World War "where [she] learnt to sweep and dust".

Kratz then trained as a district nurse. East Sussex County Council offered to sponsor her but on receipt of her personal details "could not place her"; instead, Berkshire County Council launched her community career where she worked as a district nurse, midwife and health visitor in Lambourn, Berkshire. She was appointed Nursing Officer of the Queen’s Institute of District Nursing. She undertook midwifery training at the Woolwich Hospital for Mothers and Babies and Lady Raleigh District Nursing Home, Leytonstone.

In 1959 she was appointed as the Superintendent of a district nurse position in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) and continued there to 1963. At the time she was recruiting for this position but no one was suitable so she took it herself.

She returned to England in 1963 and took a community nurse tutor course at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and in 1965 became the UK’s first community health tutor at the Royal Free Hospital.

Personal life
In 1955 Kratz decided it was time to become a Christian, "having been on the periphery for many years". She worked with the Council of Christians and Jews, and supported Christian Aid. In her retirement in Sussex she divided her time equally between working for St Mary's Church, Willingdon, where she ran the parish fete, and the Women's Institute.

Death
Kratz died on 3 October 2006 in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

Honours
In 1983 Kratz was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing (FRCN). In 1985 she was appointed MBE.