By Ruth Rae, FACN, PhD. Today Australian nurses are facing the challenge of saving lives amid an influenza pandemic on home soil. Any suggestion they have let their profession down when they contract the virus defies all logic. They are the frontline defence and they put themselves at risk for the benefit of their patients…
The historic Quadrant Building at the University of Sydney By Trish Lowe MACN – ACN Nurse Educator Move towards tertiary education for Australian nurses- mid 1980s As previously discussed in this series, Australian nurses were originally trained in public hospitals, under an apprenticeship system. During the early 1900’s, The Australasian Trained Nurses’ Association (ATNA) established the minimum standards of clinical and theoretical knowledge required to be delivered…
By Trish Lowe MACN – ACN Nurse Educator The first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses This article contains stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People who have passed away. The author has taken great care to ensure the information provided is as correct and accurate as possible. The colonisation and settlement of Australia led…
First office of the NSW College of Nursing at Macquarie Street Sydney. Credit: ACN Archives By Trish Lowe MACN – ACN Nurse Educator Specialty post-graduate education and the establishment of nursing Colleges. Discussions regarding the need for nursing to emulate health professionals- such as dentists and pharmacists- by now transitioning their education to the…
In 1960, soon to be sixteen-year-old Janet Forsyth MACN began her nursing career at Goulburn Base Hospital. On Sunday, Janet will say goodbye to the profession to which she has dedicated 60 years of her life. Her nursing journey is remarkable— from small-town beginnings to becoming one of New South Wales’ most senior stomal therapy nurses, all whilst overcoming challenges and adversities along the way. Janet spent her first 12 months as a nurse in the pan room in the Children’s Ward at Goulburn Base Hospital on cleaning…
By Trish Lowe MACN – ACN Nurse Educator The impact of military service and the emergence of nurse leaders At the commencement of the South African (Boer) War (1899-1902), Australian women responded to the New South Wales and Victorian government requests for a nursing detachment to serve alongside Australian troops (Bessant 1999; Department of Defence,…
By Trish Lowe MACN – ACN Nurse Educator The introduction of statutory acts formalising nurse registration and training Throughout the 20th century’s first decades, various states and countries within the British Commonwealth presented Bills seeking nurse registration to Parliament. In some cases (e.g. New Zealand and Queensland (QLD)) this happened quickly and easily. In other…
By Trish Lowe MACN – ACN Nurse Educator The Australasian Trained Nurses Association 1899 By the latter part of the 19th century, nursing was considered a respectable career option for educated women. In response to the rapidly growing population and advances in medical practice, health care provision progressively transitioned from home-based settings, to hospitals. This…
By Trish Lowe MACN – ACN Nurse Educator Lucy Osburn brings the Nightingale model to Australia Florence Nightingale (1820- 1910) was born in Florence to wealthy British parents. Nightingale excelled in the classics, speaking German, French and Italian, and was particularly proficient in mathematics. At seventeen, Nightingale made the decision to dedicate her life to…
By Diane J Phillips Florence Nightingale’s model of “on the job” hospital-based nurse education was successful and quickly adopted by many countries. In Australia, it was implemented during the latter part of the nineteenth century and when women only were accepted as “trainees.” As low paid employees they were a subservient and subordinate workforce within a…