Material Type

Recording

Date Range

1979

Physical Description

1 audio cassette (digital file)

Physical Condition

Excellent

History Biographical

See also "white caps and red roses", pg 11-16.

Acquisition Source

Sir Alexander Galt Museum

Scope and Content

1 90 Minute Audio Cassette Tape.Interviewee: Elizabeth Patteson Taylor.Interviewer: Sue Kyllo.Date: 20 March 1979.Length: Approximately 55 Minutes. Side 1 - Talks about why she decided to go into nursing, and about her entry interview with Miss McDermid, Galt Superintendent of Nurses. She started her training 4 Sept 1910, at age 17. Names the other students in training with her. The girls stayed 2 in a room. They were up at 6:00 a.m., dressed, rooms made, and in the dining room by 6.40. - Describes the duties of the student nurse. They were paid $5.00 per month in their first year, $7.00 in the second, and $10.00 in their final year. From their earning they had to pay for their uniforms and nursing supplies. - Elizabeth was in the first Galt School of Nursing class. Doctors at the hospital at that time were Mewburn, De Veber, Campbell, and Galbraith. The students were shown something once and expected to do it the next time by themselves. The nursing staff were responsible for teaching them the practical duties. - Describes various duties of the nursing students. Because of the social and moral attitudes existing at that time, the students found it embarrassing to look at naked men. - Talks about the morgue. - Talks about attending classes in the basement of the old hospital, and the human skelton dubbed "Mr. Bones" used to teach the students human anatomy. - Talks about the first post mortem the class attended. - Describes the student nurses uniforms. - Discusses their lessons and the teaching techniques used. - At that time, Lethbridge did not have maternity facilities so the student trained for two months at the Medicine Hat Maternity Hospital. - Talks about the other areas they trained in - operating room, feeding and diet, making of dressings, massages. - Student nurses had 1/2 day off each week, and were allowed one late evening leave per month. They were not allowed to take holidays in the first year of training, one week in the second year, and two weeks in the third. - Talks about her graduation. At the end of the 3 years there were only 3 girls left in training -Hatch, Donaldson, and herself. Their final exam was made up by the Doctors that trained them, and the passing grade was 90%. The girls were allowed to invite one family member and one friend to the ceremonies. Her gifts included roses and a hypodermic case. She describes the graduation ceremony. - Talks about the nurse's home. Relates some incidents that happended while she was in training. Side 2 (approx 10 minutes) - Talks about jobs she had after she graduated. - Talks about some of the patients that were in the hospital during her training - a morphine addict, a girl from the Red Light District who had small pox. She emphasises how the student nurses was told by superiors that it was not the student's job to think or diagnose when it came to the patients. - Talks about the Galt Hospital grounds - hitching post, tennis court, fence around the grounds.

Access Restrictions

Public Access

Accession No.

19971065001

Collection

Archive

Less detail