Altschul worked first as a nanny to learn English[1] before qualifying as a general nurse and midwife — initially in Ealing (which she described as “toffee-nosed”), later in Epsom County Hospital (where “a tutor treated students as idiots”).
[4] Altschul took to teaching nurse students outdoors at Mill Hill where the Maudsley and Bedlam psychiatric hospitals were evacuated to and remained into the 50's.
[12] In 1964, Altschul left the Maudsley to be a World Health Organisation funded[13] lecturer in the Department of Nursing Studies at the University of Edinburgh, where she became a senior lecturer then professor and head of unit, a leader in (then 'ground breaking')[1] integration of degree level nursing education and practical studies, and research leadership, which met some resistance from the medical establishment.
[5] Altschul was appointed to the Mental Health Commission in Scotland as patient advocate and in the same year (1978) was made one of the first Fellows of the Royal College of Nursing.
[5] Professor Altschul observed the effects when patients were moved to smaller accommodations during the redecoration of the large wards at Dingleton Hospital in the Scottish Borders.
Altschul observed that the closer interaction between nurses and patients resulted in less hyperactivity and less need for certain types of medications.
[citation needed] Throughout her career and research work, Altschul emphasised the critical role of the patient-nurse relationship in the therapeutic environment to support improvements in health and wellbeing.
[1] Altschul and a few other key nurses who fled the Holocaust[18] were considered as making a 'defining impact' on Britain's health service.