Last time I said - 'Of the many ways there are of preserving nursing history - collecting historic records is probably not the most popular... And yet, the paper - letters of acceptance for training, individual syllabus of training, examination papers, letters of examination success, State Registration, appointment, promotion, special awards et al, are one of the most important aspects of collecting our professional history'.
I should have added that the syllabii of a nurses training is perhaps one of the most detailed records of the education and training followed one can possess. I say 'syllabii' because to my mind there were two formal aspects. Theoretical - and practical (to say nothing of the variably variable hidden curriculum - which of course was not officially recorded!). Sometimes the former were separate documents, one for the school, one for the student. Later issues of the latter combined the two aspects as a syllabus of 'Subjects for Examination and Record of Practical Training'. The early ones are rare (so far) to find - historical gold. Later ones more than likely exist in reasonable numbers but, unless trends change, are more likely to be lost than found! Lost by default to the dustbin of history...
All were issued by the
Nursing Councils to each approved school, who then issued them to
their students/pupils at the commencement of training, along with an 'index
number', which followed the nurse throughout training. My own collection
includes several examples covering four main branches (General/Mental/Mental
Subnormality/ Sick Children) - terminology of the times my examples cover -
mostly from the 1960's -1970s.
Last time I also said - 'Among my own collection of nursing history I have one or two training
syllabi - ticked crossed, signed by the Student Nurse, Tutors, Matrons - in
one case a Chief Male Nurse - all neatly set out and dated right down to the
individual procedures...Absolute magic! A pity the school curriculum
followed was/is not available'.
Well, maybe. But here is a piece
of historical gold - and I won it on ebay so there are still a few older
examples about - the complete practical training syllabus record of
Student Nurse Vera Minnie Danver-Rogers. She commenced General Nurse
training at the Royal East Sussex Hospital, Hastings on September 26th,
1941. Her record covers 23 pages of practical experience - and the
signatures of the nurse, her teachers (ward sisters) and the Matron! The
final entry was on 30th December 1944 - a wartime trained nurse...
What experiences must have gone between those pages....
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And what of having to take the record
to Matron at the end of each month? Record your own experience - for
the first two years in blue ink, for the third in red.. For the first two
years Matron signed in red ink, and for the third in blue! A little
definite, but perhaps the changing colours denoted an increasing recognition
by the Matron of the student's progress - of the nurse becoming trustworthy,
responsible.... And the use of red ink by the nurse... Well, I'm not
sure...
We will be publishing a separate article on the practical syllabus of
training - including readable photographic copies in the near future.
For now have a better look at those pages above - just mouse-click the
images...
Imagine. Imagine that you were Student Nurse
Danver-Rogers on your first practical ward placement in 1941.
Imagine that you dropped that clinical thermometer, tried to catch - And missed it...
Forgive yourself? Matron never would....
WB.
Another Photograph from the past...This time
a nurse from Bart's Hospital London - 1919/1949
Meet Mollie
Mary Ellen Watkin - born Upton,
Widnes, Lancashire on 20th September, 1887. Mollie had been a member of a
VAD Detachment for 4 years before becoming a Probationer at St Bartholemew's
Hospital, London on 1st August 1919. On her way to a distinguished career
largely nursing wounded men from the WWII, she took the Bart's Gold Medal
during training and became night superintendent; a casualty sister and
sister of a surgical ward at Bart's. She retired on October 6th 1949.
Mollie is one of our nursing career studies which we will be publishing in
full - this one we hope at Christmas this year.
Well, that seems yet another very pleasant note upon which to end the sixth
Schools of Nursing Site News, so for now I will say goodbye and wish you all
well.
WB.
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We express our grateful appreciation to those people
who have contributed the original photographs
used to produce the News Pages.
1. News heading photo (all dates) - John Reeves
2. Bristol Southmead Gold (April) - John Reeves
3. St Bartholemew's Gold (April) - Ruth Watkin-Jones
4. Haygarth Silver (April) - 'ukhistory' (ebay)
5. Newcastle LS (April) - Peter Backman (Nursing badges)
6. RRC Medal (April) photo's- 'Caulgisbo' (ebay)
8. 'catandfrog' (July) - (ebay).
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