Material Type

Artifact

Date

1963

Materials

METAL, BRASS, PAINT

No. Pieces

1

Length

5

Width

1.5

Description

BRASS METAL BROOCH WITH BAR-PIN CLASP; BROOCH HAS GOLD-COLOURED RECTANGULAR BAR FOR FRONT, WITH BLUE CROSS IN CENTER. CROSS HAS GOLD BANNER RUNNING ACROSS THE FRONT WITH BLUE TEXT “S M H”. BACK OF BROOCH HAS ENGRAVED TEXT “STER 3 OF G, G.F.”. BROOCH HAS MINOR TARNISHING AROUND POSTS OF BAR-PIN AND ON BACK OF CROSS; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

CLOTHING-ACCESSORY

Historical Association

COMMEMORATIVE

HEALTH SERVICES

PERSONAL CARE

History

ON JUNE 20, 2019, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED SHARON KIMERY REGARDING HER DONATION OF MATERIALS FROM HER TIME STUDYING AT THE ST. MICHAEL’S SCHOOL OF NURSING BETWEEN 1962 AND 1965. ON THE BROOCH, KIMERY RECALLED, “YOU [GOT THE BROOCH] AFTER YOUR FIRST YEAR. IT’S CALLED A BANDING BARRING CEREMONY AND IT FASTENED AT THE TOP OF YOUR COLLAR OF YOUR UNIFORM. AND THAT JUST SHOWED THAT YOU MADE IT THROUGH THE FIRST YEAR AND THAT YOU HAVE A BAND AND A BROOCH NOW…YOU WORE IT UNTIL YOU GRADUATED.” “[IT SIGNIFIED RANK AND SENIORITY] BECAUSE YOUR FIRST YEAR YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING, YOU DON’T HAVE A BAND ON THE CAP, YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING. AFTER FIRST YEAR YOU GET THIS AND A YELLOW BAND AND THEN A BLUE ONE AND THEN A BLACK.” KIMERY ELABORATED ON HER TIME STUDYING AT ST. MICHAEL’S SCHOOL OF NURSING, NOTING, “THE TRUTH WAS TO GO INTO NURSING AT ST. MICHAEL’S WAS, THERE WAS MINIMAL CHARGE TO MY PARENTS. IT WAS JUST VERY SIMPLE TO GO, WE LIVED IN LETHBRIDGE. MY PARENTS WERE LONG TERM RESIDENTS...I JUST THOUGHT THE SISTERS WOULD TREAT ME WELL AND GIVE ME A REAL GOOD EDUCATION AS FAR AS LOOKING AFTER PEOPLE WAS CONCERNED WHICH, IN FACT, THEY DID. IT WAS NOT EASY, I’LL TELL YOU, BUT WELL WORTH THE THREE YEARS I SPENT THERE.” “[I CHOSE ST. MICHAEL’S OVER THE GALT SCHOOL OF NURSING BECAUSE] I JUST THOUGHT IT WOULD BE BETTER. THEY WOULD TREAT ME AS I WANTED TO BE TREATED AS A NURSE-IN-TRAINING AND THEN I WOULD EVENTUALLY TREAT MY PATIENTS THE WAY THEY WANTED ME TO TREAT THEM…THERE’S NO REASON, I JUST KNEW. THERE WASN’T EVEN ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT THE GALT—THE GALT SCHOOL OF NURSING.” “[THE PROGRAM] WAS JUST A REAL STEP FOR ME…THERE WERE SO MANY THINGS THAT WERE NEW TO ME, THAT I NEVER IMAGINED, AND EVERYTHING FROM DAY ONE UNTIL PERHAPS THE END OF THE FIRST YEAR, I WAS SORT OF IN AWE OF ALL THE THINGS THAT WERE GOING TO HAPPEN AND I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT, BUT YOU SETTLE IN, AND YOU ALL OF A SUDDEN DECIDE, THIS IS WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT AND THIS IS WHAT I WANT. AND OF COURSE YOU HAVE YOUR PREFERENCES AS TO WHERE YOU ARE, AND I CERTAINLY DIDN’T LOVE ALL THE SECTIONS OF NURSING, BUT THE OPERATING ROOM WAS MY THING. I JUST THOUGHT IT’S SUCH CHALLENGE AND SO INTERESTING, EVERY DAY WAS DIFFERENT. I MEAN, LOOKING AFTER PATIENTS WITH DIFFERENT TUBES. IT WASN’T THE SAME DIFFERENT. THERE WERE DIFFERENT CONDITIONS, DIFFERENT WAYS AND DIFFERENT THINGS YOU HAD TO DO.” “[I WAS IN AWE OF] JUST THE WAY PEOPLE NEEDED CARE, AND NEEDED ATTENTION, AND NEEDED TO BE LOOKED AFTER. YOU HAD TO HAVE AN EAR AND TO LISTEN WHETHER IT WAS IMPORTANT OR NOT IMPORTANT TO YOU. YOU HAD TO REALIZE ALL THAT…[I WAS EXPOSED TO THE OPERATING ROOM] IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN IN THE…LATE FIRST OR SECOND YEAR FOR SURE…I WAS SO SCARED OF MAKING A MISTAKE. THINGS WERE SO SPECIAL AND THEY HAD TO BE SO PERFECT. EVERYBODY KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE DOING ALL THE TIME. THERE WERE NEVER ANY MISTAKES MADE…EVENTUALLY, I TURNED OUT THE SAME WAY. THERE WAS NO WAY I COULD MAKE A MISTAKE, OR WOULD MAKE A MISTAKE, AND DIDN’T MAKE A MISTAKE BECAUSE YOU CAN’T…[IN] NURSING SOMETIMES YOU MAKE A LITTLE MISTAKE IN CHARTING OR EVEN A LITTLE MISTAKE IN GIVING THE RIGHT CARE…IT’S OKAY, BUT IN THE O.R.—NOT OKAY...” “YOU WENT IN THERE AND YOU WERE ASSIGNED TO CASES, AND YOU LOOKED IT UP IN THE EVENING WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO DO, AND YOU WENT IN THERE AND IF THEY SAID, ‘OKAY, YOU’RE GOING TO SCRUB YOUR HANDS AND HELP’, YOU DID. NOW, IF YOU WERE SCARED, TOO BAD, THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO DO TODAY. YOU ALWAYS HAD AN R.N. WITH YOU…YOUR COORDINATOR…ONCE I GOT IN THERE AND WAS DOING IT, I WAS FINE. IT WAS JUST GETTING IN THERE AND DOING IT THAT WAS HARD.” “AT TIMES [IT SEEMED QUASI-MILITARY]…WHEN YOU HAD TO STAND UP AND BE CHECKED BEFORE YOU WENT TO SHIFT; IF YOU HAD HAIR ON YOUR COLLAR, OR SCUFFS ON YOUR SHOES, OR WRINKLES IN YOUR COSTUME…YOU WENT BACK AND REMEDIED IT BEFORE YOU WENT TO BREAKFAST. THIS WAS EARLY, LIKE 6, BECAUSE YOU HAD A LITTLE PRAYER SESSION…AND IF YOU WEREN’T PERFECT, YOU WENT BACK TO YOUR ROOM BEFORE BREAKFAST AND YOU WERE CHECKED AGAIN BEFORE…RULES AND REGULATIONS OF RESIDENCES ARE THE SAME EVERYWHERE, I PRESUME. THERE ARE TIMES FOR FUN TIMES, AND TIME FOR STUDY, AND TIME FOR SLEEP. THAT’S HOW IT WAS THERE.” ON HER FRIENDS AND CLASSMATES DURING HER STUDIES AT ST. MICHAEL’S SCHOOL OF NURSING, KIMERY SHARED, “[DURING SCHOOL] I’M LIVING IN THE RESIDENCE THAT ST. MIKE’S HAD ON 13TH STREET THERE AND 9TH AVENUE. FIRST YEAR, YOU SHARED A ROOM; SECOND YEAR, YOU HAD YOUR OWN ROOM; THIRD YEAR THEY MOVED YOU OUT AND THEY PAID FOR A BASEMENT SUITE SOMEWHERE; AND YOU USUALLY HAD A ROOMMATE OR TWO, OR HOWEVER MANY THE LANDLORD WOULD TAKE. I LIVED ON 13TH STREET WITH TWO OTHER GIRLS IN MY THIRD YEAR.” “JUST LIKE IN ANY SITUATION, THERE ARE GROUPS OF GIRLS…MY GROUP WAS A FEW OF US, 4 OR 5, THAT WERE VERY CLOSE AND DID THINGS TOGETHER…YOU NEVER ALL GET TOGETHER AND ENJOY, UNLESS IT’S A SITUATION WHERE YOU HAVE TO ALL BE TOGETHER. BUT THERE WERE SOME CLASSMATES I DIDN’T FANCY, AND I’M SURE THERE WERE SOME THAT DIDN’T FANCY ME…THAT’S THE WAY LIFE IS, YOU DON’T LIKE EVERYBODY THAT YOU’RE IN A GROUP WITH, FOR SURE. SO THERE WERE 4 OR 5 THAT WERE ALL RIGHT, THAT WE GOT ALONG WELL…WE NEVER BECAME REALLY GOOD FRIENDS. WE WERE TOGETHER FOR 3 YEARS, DOING WHATEVER IT WAS FOR 3 YEARS, BUT AFTER THAT YOU GO YOUR SEPARATE WAYS AND LIVE YOUR LIFE. AND BEING THAT I LEFT SHORTLY AFTER I GRADUATED, I LEFT IN ’66 TO GO TO MONTREAL. BY THE TIME I GOT BACK [THE FRIENDSHIP WAS] GONE.” KIMERY RECALLED THE NUNS AND INSTRUCTORS WHO TAUGHT AT ST. MICHAEL’S SCHOOL OF NURSING, NOTING, “SISTER BEATRICE HAD TO BE THE TOUGHEST SISTER I THINK I‘LL EVER ENCOUNTER…SHE WAS HARD ON YOU ON EVERY PHASE OF YOUR NURSING, WHETHER IT MEANT STANDING IN LINE IN THE MORNING TO CHECK THE WAY YOU LOOKED BEFORE YOU WENT ON DUTY, OR WHETHER IT WAS 9 O’CLOCK AT NIGHT WHEN YOU WERE MAKING TOO DARN MUCH NOISE UPSTAIRS AND YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN STUDYING. SHE WAS A TOUGH SISTER, BUT I WOULDN’T HAVE TRADED HER FOR ANYONE. AND THERE WAS ANOTHER LITTLE ONE, SISTER PETER MARIE AND SHE USED TO WANDER THE HALLS AND, OH DEAR, IF YOU WEREN’T BEHAVING, YOU WERE IN TROUBLE. NEVER SERIOUS TROUBLE, DON’T GET ME WRONG, BUT THOSE TWO REALLY STICK OUT IN MY MIND BECAUSE THEY WERE THE TWO THAT WERE REALLY LOOKING AFTER US…IN THE FIRST YEAR AND SECOND YEAR.” “[AS TEACHERS, THE SISTERS] WERE FUSSY. YOU HAD TO HAVE IT PERFECT…IF YOU MADE A DRUG ERROR…YOU HAD TO WRITE PAGES AND PAGES AND DO RESEARCH ON THE DRUG THAT YOU’D MADE A MISTAKE ON. THEY…MADE SURE THAT EVERYTHING WAS ‘PERFECT’, THE WAY IT SHOULD BE…IT HAD TO BE PERFECT FOR THE PATIENT. I MEAN, YOU HAD TO BE PERFORMING WELL, BUT YOU HAD TO BE PERFECT FOR THE PATIENT. THAT WAS THE WHOLE THING. YOU WERE LOOKING AFTER PEOPLE. YOU HAD TO MAKE SURE WHAT YOU WERE DOING WAS RIGHT. NO QUESTIONS ASKED ABOUT IT NOT BEING SO.” “[THE SISTERS WOULD] MAKE THE ROUNDS TO THOSE PATIENTS ON THE FLOOR, I DON’T KNOW IF IT WAS HOURLY, BUT OFTEN YOU WOULD SEE…THEY HAD THE LONG SKIRTS…AND YOU’D HEAR THE SWISH, SWISH, AND YOU’D KNOW THAT THEY WERE ABOUT SOMEWHERE—CHECKING…THEY WERE THERE ALL THE TIME—MORNING, EVENING AND EVEN ON NIGHT SHIFT. EVEN WHEN I WORKED THE NIGHT SHIFT AS A STUDENT, THERE WAS ALWAYS A SISTER SOMEWHERE. I PRESUME IF YOU NEEDED THEM OR WERE IN TROUBLE, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE IMMEDIATELY. IT NEVER HAPPENED BUT I’M SURE THAT’S PART OF THE REASON THERE WAS SOMEBODY AROUND 24-7 NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT.” “THE SENIOR NURSES TENDED TO BE A LITTLE TOUGH ON THE SECOND YEAR AND THE FIRST YEAR NURSES…THEY KNOW MORE. THEY’VE BEEN THERE LONGER. THEY DON’T WANT YOU MAKING MISTAKES BECAUSE IT REFLECTS ON THEM…BUT, THAT WAS OKAY TOO. I’D RATHER HAVE SOMEONE TOLD ME THAT SOMETHING WASN’T DONE VERY WELL AT THE TIME…ONE EXAMPLE HERE…[ONE] MORNING, THIRD YEAR NURSE, A PATIENT GOING TO THE O.R. I WENT IN, THOUGHT HE WAS READY. SHE CAME IN AND SAID, ‘DID YOU GIVE HIM MOUTH WASH?’ I SAID, ‘NO.’ [THE SENIOR NURSE ASKED] ‘WHY NOT?’ I DIDN’T HAVE AN ANSWER. I DID IT. I NEVER FORGOT AGAIN. PATIENT GOT MOUTH WASH EVERY DAY…EVERY PATIENT O.R…YOU MADE SURE THEY WERE CLEANED UP IN THE MORNING REGARDLESS…I WAS IN MY FIRST YEAR, I THINK, OR MAYBE SECOND…BUT I STILL REMEMBER THE NURSE…I CAN EVEN REMEMBER HER NAME SO THAT’S THE IMPRESSION IT MAKES ON A STUDENT NURSE TRYING TO LEARN THE HARD WAY. BUT THE HARD WAY’S BETTER THAN NOT AT ALL.” ON HER POST-GRADUATE STUDIES IN NURSING, KIMERY SHARED, “I WENT TO MONTREAL TO THE ROYAL VICTORIA HOSPITAL AND DID A POST GRADUATE COURSE IN OPERATING ROOM TECHNIQUE AND THEN STAYED ON AS STAFF MEMBER THERE…THEN I CAME BACK TO LETHBRIDGE [AND] I WENT BACK TO ST MIKE’S AFTER MY POST GRADUATE…THERE’S LOTS OF CHALLENGES [IN THE OPERATING ROOM]…RIGHT FROM WHEN YOU WENT IN THERE AS A STUDENT…SO MANY THINGS YOU HAD TO KNOW AND DO AND BE AWARE OF AND MAKE SURE YOU’RE RIGHT BECAUSE YOU CAN’T BE WRONG. AND I THOUGHT, ‘YEAH, I CAN DO THIS’. SO I CHOSE TO [WORK IN THE OPERATING ROOM].” “I JUST WANTED TO SEE BIG SURGERY. I WANTED TO SEE HEART SURGERY. I WANTED TO SEE KIDNEY TRANSPLANTS. I WANTED TO SEE BIG STUFF AND I DID…I WAS ON THE KIDNEY TRANSPLANT TEAM. I REPLACED VALVES IN THE CARDIO-VASCULAR…THEY DID BIG SURGERIES, BIG ORTHOPEDIC SURGERIES…BACK IN THE ‘60S TOTAL REPLACEMENTS WERE HUGE...[FOR PEOPLE WHO WANTED MORE, IT WAS] PROBABLY RARE. I MEAN, I WENT ON MY OWN TO MONTREAL. I’D NEVER BEEN OUT OF LETHBRIDGE. I HAD A FRIEND THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO AND SHE CANCELLED SO I WENT BY MYSELF…[I WAS] 21.” “[I WAS CONFIDENT GOING TO MONTREAL] BECAUSE I KNEW I CAME FROM A SCHOOL THAT HAD A GOOD O.R., WE HAD ALL THE SPECIALTIES. WE HAD THE OPHTHALMOLOGY, EAR NOSE AND THROAT, PLASTICS AND ORTHOPEDICS, AND UROLOGY AND GENERAL SURGERY ALL HERE IN LETHBRIDGE. SO I KNEW ALL OF THOSE WHEN I WENT THERE. I JUST WANTED MORE. I WANTED BIGGER AND MORE, AND I GOT IT.” “THERE WAS SO MUCH I HAD TO LEARN AND HAD TO DO. [THE EXPERIENCE WORKING AT ST. MICHAEL’S IN LETHBRIDGE] DOESN’T PREPARE YOU WHEN YOU TAKE A JOURNEY LIKE THAT IN YOUR LIFE—A BIG STEP. IT DOESN’T PREPARE YOU. YOU GET THERE AND IT’S A HUGE CITY AND THE RESIDENCE IS HUGE…AND THE HOSPITAL’S HUGE AND THERE’S 15 O.R.’S AND THEY’RE BUSY 24-7 AND YOU’RE NOT PREPARED. YOU CAN’T BE. BUT YOU GET [PREPARED]…I WAS READY. AT FIRST [I WAS] MAYBE A LITTLE SKEPTICAL, I GUESS YOU MIGHT SAY…[THE SCHOOL] FIGURED IT WAS ALL RIGHT FOR ME TO BE THERE [COMING IN FROM A SMALL SCHOOL AND SMALL CITY]…THEY TREATED ME VERY WELL…I HAD SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES…IF IT WAS THERE AND YOU WANTED IT. TAKE IT. SO I DID.” “I DON’T KNOW [WHY THEY ACCEPTED ME INTO THE PROGRAM IN MONTREAL]. I HAVE NO IDEA. I WAS VERY SURPRISED THAT I WAS ACCEPTED ACTUALLY, BECAUSE IF I HADN’T BEEN…I DON’T EVEN KNOW IF I HAD ANOTHER OPTION IN MIND ACTUALLY…THE PROGRAM WAS FINISHED IN ’67 AND I STAYED UNTIL ’69. I CAME [BACK TO LETHBRIDGE] IN ‘70.” “[I FELT LIKE IT WAS A BIG DEAL TO ACCEPT A STUDENT FROM A SMALL CITY LIKE LETHBRIDGE] BASED ON THE OTHER GIRLS THAT WERE IN THE PROGRAM. ONE WAS FROM HALIFAX AND SHE’D BEEN IN NORFOLK, VIRGINIA. THERE WAS ANOTHER ONE THAT WAS FROM THE OTTAWA GENERAL OR SOMEWHERE, AND THERE WAS ONE FROM…SOMEWHERE ABROAD…THE LADIES THAT WERE THERE WERE FAR MORE EXPERIENCED, I GUESS, HAD BEEN IN BIGGER HOSPITALS, DONE BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS THAN I.” “I THINK [THE SCHOOL’S FACULTY] THOUGHT [THE ST. MICHAEL’S PROGRAM] WAS PRETTY…GOOD BECAUSE THE WAY I USED TO SET THE ROOM UP IN THE MORNING, THEY WOULD COME AND JUST SAY, ‘ARE YOU THE ONE FROM ALBERTA, FROM THE SMALL SCHOOL?’ ‘YES, I AM.’ THEY COULD JUST TELL…THAT I WAS FROM A PLACE THAT DID THINGS SPECIAL FOR EVERYBODY ON THE TEAM, FOR THE ANESTHETIST…WE TREATED THEM SPECIAL. SO I TREATED THEM SPECIAL THERE, AND THEY JUST, ‘WHAT IS THIS NOW?’ AND THE DOCTORS, THEY KNEW, THEY COULD TELL JUST BECAUSE THAT’S THE WAY IT WAS IN ST. MICHAEL’S. THIS IS WHY YOU DID IT. THIS IS HOW YOU DID IT AND YOU DID IT EVERY DAY.” ON HER INTEREST IN NURSING AND DECISION TO PURSUE A CAREER IN NURSING, KIMERAY RECALLED, “[I WANTED TO BE A NURSE] BECAUSE I’M JUST REALLY GOOD WITH PEOPLE. PEOPLE ARE WHAT MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND. I JUST LIKE PEOPLE. I LIKE TO TALK TO THEM. I LIKE TO CARE FOR THEM…YOUNG, MEDIUM AGED OR OLD. ALL GOOD FOR ME. AND WHEN I FIRST WENT THERE, MY FIRST EXPERIENCES WEREN’T THAT EASY BECAUSE I’D REALLY NEVER BEEN LOOKING AFTER ANY KIND OF PEOPLE—[IT WAS] HARD, BUT I JUST LIKE PEOPLE AND I’M EASY WITH PEOPLE…EVEN IN THEIR WORST SITUATIONS, TO THIS DAY, I’M EASY WITH PEOPLE.” “I GUESS MEDICINE WAS FINE BECAUSE THOSE PEOPLE REALLY NEEDED CARE. SURGERY THEY WERE IN DISCOMFORT FOR A WHILE BUT THEN GOT BETTER. MATERNITY I DIDN’T FANCY. PEDIATRICS I DIDN’T FANCY BUT MEDICINE, THEY NEEDED CARE AND SO THAT’S WHY I LIKED IT.” FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING COPIES OF LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES ABOUT KIMERY AND ST. MICHAEL’S SCHOOL OF NURSING, AND THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20190011001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20190011002

Acquisition Date

2019-06

Collection

Museum

Less detail