Nursing archives find new home at old school

THE Northern District School of Nursing has returned to Bendigo’s Lister House more than two decades after the transition of nursing training to the tertiary sector.

The Northern District School of Nursing Graduates Association has taken over a small section of the building, which will house its extensive archive collection.

The collection consists of memorabilia and artefacts and includes documents, photos and instruments.

Jenny Pata, who attended the school in the 1960s and is on the graduates association committee, said returning to the building was special.

“All nurses who trained here, identify with Lister House,” she said.

Mrs Pata said about 3000 students attended the school between 1950 and 1989 to undertake the theoretical component of nursing training. She said the school covered the entire north west region of the state, from Kyneton to Mildura and Maryborough to Echuca.

She said prior to the school starting, nursing training was taught at small hospitals that lacked the capacity to deliver comprehensive training.

“During the early days when nurses were doing their training they had long hours. It was better to work at the lolly counter at Coles than be a nurse – the conditions were atrocious,” she said.

“(Lister House) was a pilot set up on an English model. They decided if they could teach the theory and then send them out to do their practical, they could get a lot of them trained in a short period of time.

“It worked and became the forerunner for the university training of now.”

Mrs Pata said students would live in hostels close to the school and would spend time together socialising as well as studying together.

Joan O’Shea was part of the first intake of students at Lister House. She was 17 at the time and said she had many positive memories from her time spent at the school. She said the return to the school was special.

“This is where we began, this is where the school began,” she said.

Mrs returned to the school in the 1950s as a teacher and regularly keep in contact with people she’d met during her time training.

The graduates association is hosting a reunion at the All Seasons Bendigo on April 18. A book, First of its Kind: Nurse Education and Training at the Northern District School of Nursing will be launched at the event.

People associated with the school who would like to attend the reunion should contact Fay Bourke on 5443 8280 or flyawayfay@gmail.com or Maree Worme on 5441 2175 or mworme@bigpond.com.au