A splendid history of the Northern School of Nursing, compiled by the Graduates Association, has been donated to the Bendigo Historical Society.
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The First of its Kind is the story of nurse education and training at the school. Dr John Lindell, the Hospitals and Charities Commission chairman in July 1970, wrote: “I believe the School to be the most professional of its kind in Australia – if not in the world. I have not seen its like elsewhere … but I believe it is a lesson for anybody interested in nursing and in patient care and teaching in the future”.
In her foreword, Dr Pamela Bell states: “This is the story about a seminal event in the history of nursing education in Victoria, the formation of the Northern District School of Nursing located at Lister House in Bendigo. The establishment of an independent school of nursing which was not only an historical ‘first’ for Victoria, but could be said to have laid the foundations of the current national system, for it combined a campus environment for the study of the theoretical aspects of nursing conjointly with practical clinical experience, a model now widely employed in the university sector of nurse education. It is also the story of overcoming disadvantage, the story of an inspirational nursing leader, Nancy Long, the story of a building, Lister House, and the story of the people who have passed through the doors of Lister House.”
Editors Jenny and Ken Pata deserve great credit in following the story from before Lister House days, in a series of chapters, some with intriguing headings such as ‘I fail to see anything funny’ to ‘A tablespoon of custard powder’. It is a most informative work and great care has been taken to include the contents of the many and varied personal memoirs, photographs and other documents submitted by former students and staff members.
A common worry for editors is the inability to always identify the people in photographs, so it is important for anyone with family or other photos, to make sure names and dates are written on the back of these photographs.
Notices: Bendigo Historical Society meeting, Friday, October 9 in the Bendigo TAFE Theatrette at 2pm. Speaker Keith McHenry with a tribute to legendary folk musician and collectors Peter Ellis and John Meredith. Owing to TAFE being closed on October 2 due to a public holiday, the above meeting has been put back a week later than previously advertised.
