TRAINING SCHOOL FOR NURSES 
 
 IN CONNECTION WITH 
 
 THE MONTREAL GENERAL HOSPITAL 
 
 FORMAL OPENING 
 
 WINDSOR HALL, MONTREAI. 
 
 DECEMBER XIth, 1890 
 
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 MONTREAL 
 
 GAZETTE PRIKTINO COMPANY 
 
 1890 
 
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FORMAL INAUGURATION 
 
 OF THB 
 
 GENERAL HOSPITAL TRAINING SCHOOL 
 
 FOE NUBS^S. 
 BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL. 
 
 From The Gazbttb, Montreal, 12th Dec, 1890. 
 
 The formal opening of the recently established training school 
 for nui-ses attached to the Montreal General Hospital took place 
 in the Windsor hall Thursday afternoon and was a success worthy 
 of the occasion. The beautiful hall, which had been tastefully 
 arranged for the event, was well filled with ladies and gentlemen, 
 the ladies being in the great majority. The platform was draped 
 with red cloth, bore a number of comfortable-looking chairs 
 artistically arranged, and when the electric light cast its rays 
 over all, the scene presented was a very attractive one. The 
 ceremony, which was of a somewhat informal character, was 
 presided over by Mr. John Stirling. His Excellency the 
 Governor-Geneial and Lady SUmley came (town from Ottawa 
 specially for the purpose of being present. 
 
 A Visit to the Hospital. 
 
 Their Excellencies, who were accompanied by Mr. Walsh, 
 A.D.C., and Miss Clifton, arrived by the Canada Atlantic Bailway 
 just before noon and made their private car their headquarters. 
 In the morning they drove around the city and at 1.45 p.m. they 
 were waited upon by Mr. John Stirling and Mr. Richard White, 
 
representing the Governors of the General Hospital, who 
 conducted them to that institution, where they were received by 
 the Medical Superintendent, Dr. Kirkpatrick, Dr. MacCalluro, 
 Messrs. J. P. Cleghoin, Chas. Garth, R. W. Shepherd, F. 
 Wolferstan Thomas, S. Pinley, Cha«. Alexander, S. H. Ewing, J. 
 C. Holden, J. Patton, Secretary, and Miss Livingston, the Lady 
 Superintendent. They were conducted through several of the 
 wards and other departments of the Hospital, which wore models 
 of cleanliness and order, and they appeared to be well pleased with 
 what they aaw. The Governor-General and Lady Stanley spoke 
 words of sympathy to the patients and addressed cheery remarks 
 to the nurses. In the children's ward Her Ladyship seemed to 
 take most delight, spending some minutes in amusing one of the 
 little sufferers. At the close of the tour the distinguished visitors 
 and the Governors drove to the Windsor Hall, where the formal 
 ceremony of opening the training school for nurses was to take 
 place. 
 
 At the Windsor Hall. 
 
 Long before the hour fixed for the event ladies began to stream 
 into the Windsor Hall, and by the time the Viceregal party 
 arrived the audience had reached large proportions. The entrance 
 of the Viceregal party was the signal for those in the body of the 
 hall to rise, a compliment which Their Excellencies courteously 
 iwknowledged. Mr. John Stirling, President of the Hospital, 
 occupied the chair. On his left sat the Governor-General; on 
 his right were Lady Stanley, Miss Clifton and Miss Livingston, 
 the Lady Superintendent of the Hospital. On the platform were 
 many leading citizens, including Sir William and Lady Dawson, 
 Lady Smith, His Lordship Bishop Bond, Rev. Canon Ellegoode, 
 Rev. H. J. Evans, Messrs. J. P. Cleghorn, R. W. Shepherd, Chas. 
 Alexander, S. H. Ewing, J. C. Holden, John Crawford, Richard 
 White, Chas. Garth, S. Finley, G. W. Stephens, F. Wolferstan 
 Thomas, Sherift' Thibaudeau, President Notre Dame Hospital, 
 Walter Drake, Prof. Bovey, Dr. Craik, Dr. Kingston, Dr. McCal- 
 lum and many others. 
 
 So soon as the audience was settled down a rustle was heard at 
 
the back of the hall, and the nuraes attached at the trainiDg 
 Nchool entered in two columns, headed by Miss Quaife, the 
 AHuistant Superintendent, and Dr. Kirkpatrick, Medical Superin- 
 tendent. Dressed in pretty pink dresses, with long aprons and 
 neat mob caps, white as the undrivon snow, thoy presented a most 
 attractive appearance, and when they had taken their seats on 
 raised platibrmB on each side of the hall, made up a picture 
 worthy of an artist's brush. Their fresh complexions, neat attire, 
 and evident enthusiasm for their work at once capitvated the 
 audience. It was interesting to notice how each nurse, despite 
 the uniformity of their dress, had some individualit}'' about her 
 which distinguished her from her fellows. It may have been 
 only a kink of the hair or some peculiar arrangement of the dress, 
 yet each was distinguishable from the other by some mark of 
 individual taste. 
 
 The Chairman's Address. 
 
 After His Lordship the Bishop of Montreal had o])ened the 
 proceedings with prayer, 
 
 Mr. Stirling, the President, said : 
 
 May it please Your Excellencies : 
 
 Ladies and OtEntlemen, — On behalf of the Committee of 
 Management, I have to thank you for your presence on this 
 occasion. The large number present I take to indicate the geno- 
 ral sympathy felt by the community for that house of mercy, the 
 Montreal General Hospital. The Committee have also to be 
 specially thankful for the presence of His Excellency the 
 (lOvernor-Goneral and Lady Stanley, who thus nhow their sym- 
 pathy for the object for which the institution exists, and give it 
 the benefit of their influence, the effect of which I have no doubt 
 will be to strengthen the sympathy for, and increase the interest 
 in, this old and honored institution throughout the Dominion, and 
 more especially in this city, from which it derives its principal 
 support. 
 
 The object for which this institution exists is specially the care 
 of the sick poor amongst us, and the passport for admission for 
 
the citizens is practically that they are suffering from a disease 
 that is admissable. According to by-laws, the governors have the 
 privilege of recommending patients, and when they do their 
 recommendation has every special attention, but in general they 
 seldom exercise this privilege, and the consequence is that admis- 
 sion rests chiefly with the Medical Superintendent, who, if there 
 is room, decides without recommendation and without distinction 
 ofany kind, if the applicant is suffering from a disease that is 
 admissable and acts accoi-dingly. 
 
 I will now give a very short outline of the history of this 
 institution, gathered from old reports, from which it appeal's that 
 the land on which the hospital now stands was purchased by a 
 few benevolent individuals in the year 1820 for the purpor.es of a 
 general hospital. The corner stone was laid 6th June, 1821 (69 
 yeare ago), and the building was ready foe the reception of 
 patients in the month of May following. It was considered 
 capable of receiving seventy patients. The land and original 
 building cost $23,500. During the first five years after the 
 opening the sums contributed by the citizens for its support 
 ranged from $1,700 to $2,800 per annum, which, at that time, 
 were considered larg'. 
 
 For the aake of contrast, I may say that, according to the last 
 annual report, the sum raised in this city for current expenses 
 was, in round numbers, $22,000. 
 
 Then as to the gradual extension of the buildings. The first 
 extension was what is called the Eichardson wing, erected by 
 public subscription, as a memorial of the services of the late Hon. 
 John Richardson, who was president of the Hospital from its 
 commencement until his death, which occurred in 1831. This 
 wing was completed in 1832, and as ii memorial the old report 
 says that nothing could be more in harmony with the character 
 of the man. 
 
 The next extension took place in the year 1848. At a meet- 
 ing of the Governors in the month of March, in that year, the 
 much respected widow of the late Hon. Chief Justice Reid com- 
 municated her desire to build a wing to the Hospital to corres- 
 pond with the Richardson wing, and in May, 1849, this benevo- 
 
lent lady conveyed to the Society of the M. G. Hospital the now 
 well-known Beid wing, forming the first portion of the buildings 
 provided by individual munificence. 
 
 A sanitary measure conducive to the welfare of the Hospital, 
 as well as its appearance, was effected in 1866. Some objection- 
 able buildings situated in front of the Hospital had for many 
 years proved disagreeable to the Governors. The property was 
 purchased — the objectionable buildings removed and the vacant 
 ground added to that previously in possession of the Society — the 
 effect of which was to secure a large open space in front of the 
 institution, providing for an ample supply of fresh air for the 
 patients. 
 
 The cost of this property was $4,800, and was generously 
 borne equally by the late Mr. William Molson and Mr. J. G-. Mac- 
 kenzie. 
 
 The next extension was the erection of a separate building for 
 the treatment of dangerous contageous diseases, a brick build- 
 ing, capable of receiving 40 patients, situated in the rear of the 
 Richardson wing, and quite detached from it. It cost $10,700, 
 of which the late William Molson contributed $5,000, nearly half 
 the cost. . 
 
 The next and last extension was the Morland wing erected by 
 public subscription, in memor}- of the late Thomas Morland 
 who while vice-president took the deepest interest in the affairs 
 of the Hospital. 
 
 A stage is now reached in this hospital's history, when in order 
 to keep in line with similar modern institutions, it has become 
 absolutely necessary tHat not only further extensions should take 
 place, but also that the interior of the piesent building should 
 undergo considerable alterations, the objects chiefly being to have 
 the surgical patients entirely separated from the medical patients, 
 and to admit of improvement in the general administration. 
 
 The Governors have accordingly decided to proceed immedi- 
 ately with the erection of two surgical wings, one for male and 
 the other for fema .; patients, — the one to be called the Campbell 
 wing, in memory of the late Dr. Campbell, and the other the 
 Greenshields wing. 
 
The money for the erection of the Campbell wing has been 
 already donated by Sir George Stephen, and the money for the 
 erection of the Greenshields wing is also in the possession of the 
 Hospital, being a bequest by the late David J. Greonshields. The 
 two amounts in the possession of the Hospital, specially for build- 
 ing purposes amount altogether to about $100,000, which will 
 likely all be spent on the new buildings. 
 
 These additions will add about 50 or 60 beds for patients, and, 
 of course, will entail additional expenses for current maintenance, 
 for which we will have to trust principally to the generosity of 
 the citizens — which has never yet failed. 
 
 From time to time the interior of the buildings has been 
 altered and improved. The last great improvement to the ex- 
 terior was the providing of bettei* accommodation for the nurses 
 by the addition of a mansard story to the main building, and 
 which also admitted of the establishment of a training school — 
 the opening of which school we are met this day to celebrate. 
 
 The school is under the management of the Medical Boai-d and 
 the Lady Superintendent, and has alread}'^ much improved the 
 nursing service, and I am confident that ere long an efficiency of 
 the nursing service will be attained as gratifying to the manage- 
 ment as it is beneficent to those who require the service. 
 
 Address to the Nurses. 
 
 Dr. MacCallum was then called upon to deliver the address to 
 the nurses in training. He said : — 
 
 The question of woman's capability to perform much of the 
 world's woi'k, which has been heretofore performed exclusively 
 by man, has of late years given rise to much controversy, and 
 widely-separated opinions arc hold on the subject. There are 
 many who contend that her proper sphere of action lies within 
 the limits of the iamily circle. That the great aim and ambition 
 of her life should bo to shine as the light and life of a well-regu- 
 lated home — to be the sympathising friend and companion — the 
 gentle counsellor and efficient help-meet of man. 
 
 A noble and desirable position truly, and one which, when 
 worthily filled as wife, mother, daughter or sister, is productive 
 
of a greater amount of individual human happiness, and of more 
 far-reaching and important influences, than any other position 
 II woman can possibly occupy. The nearest approach to perfect 
 felicity on this earth is to be found in a family circle, the mem- 
 bors of which live together in peace and harmony, bound by ties 
 of mutual affection, and over which an intelligent, sympathetic, 
 devoted woman presides. A nation consists of an aggregation of 
 families. Home life is reflected in national life, and as the home 
 is, so shall the nation be. Manliness, honor, virtue and integrity, 
 in a word, all the qualities that elevate, as well as those that 
 debase, the nation have their origin in, and are derived from, the 
 homes of the people. The properly-directed and exercised home 
 influence of woman, therefore, is one of the most important 
 factors in the happiness, prosperity and greatness of a nation. 
 
 But, admitting so far the correctness of this contention, ad- 
 mitting that in home relations, and in the performance of home 
 duties, she occupies the position and discharges the functions 
 which in the economy of nature are peculiarly her own, and for 
 which she is specially adapted, the question still presents itself: 
 Is it well that the work of woman should be hedged in by, and 
 strictly limited to, the contracted boundaries of the family circle? 
 
 Endowed with the same faculties as man, capable by training 
 and education of attaining the highest degree of culture, his 
 equal in quickness of perception and in an intuitive knowledge 
 of the motives which prompt human action ; not wanting, more- 
 over, in many cases, in perseverance and steadiness of purpose, 
 it is only right that she should cultivate and make use of the 
 talents she possesses for the furtherance of her own well-being, 
 for the welfare ff those associated with and often <lependenf 
 upon her, and for the benefit of society in general. 
 
 Her sex, the power and influence of her emotional nature, and 
 the delicacy of her physical oiganizalion, completely unfit her 
 for a very large number of pursuits which are congenial to ami 
 can only be followed by man. Jiut omitting these there still 
 remain numerous occupations which are open to her, the duties 
 of which she can discharge thoroughly, and which are not in any 
 way repugnant to her sense of womanly dignity and propriety. 
 
10 
 
 And the intelligence of modern society recognizes her perfect 
 fitness for various manual and mental work, and willingly accords 
 to her, when she does honest work with hand or brain, the 
 respect and esteem to which every true, faithful worker is 
 entitled. For the old time opinion that prevailed in the robber 
 days of the world's history, when might was right, that work 
 was a humiliation, and that the worker was to be despised and 
 treated with utter contempt, has, in this era of unexampled 
 activity ind progress, almost entirely disappeared. To-day it is 
 labor, directed and guided by intelligence, that commands suc- 
 cess. No position of any consequence can be attained, no notable 
 outcome can be expected by a folding of the arms and a patient 
 waiting on Providence. There has never been a time when the 
 injunction — '■ Whiitsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all 
 thy might," has been so faithfully and earnestly attended to and 
 carried out. 
 
 Your presence, ladies, as members of the class in this Training 
 School for Nuj'ses, proclaims the fact that you are desirous to 
 enter the ranks of those who labour lor their own well-being and 
 for the good of society generally. Whatever opinion may be 
 held regarding the suitability of many positions that are filled, 
 and man}' occupations that are followed, by those of your own 
 sex, there cannot be the shadow of a doubt as to the perfect fit- 
 ness of woman for the occupation of nursing the sick. Next to 
 the performance of home duties, it is the work which seems to be 
 peculiarly her own. In the perfonuance of the duties appertain 
 ing to the care of the sick, all the best qualities of her nature, 
 those for which she is particularly distinguished, are appealed to. 
 Her quick sympathy for all kinds of sorrow and aftliction, her 
 tenderness to all who are in pain and suffering, and the devotion 
 which she bestows on those who are helpless and dependent and 
 require her care, mark her as especially fitted to have charge of 
 the sick. 
 
 You are to be congratulated on the step which you have 
 taken. For although the position of a nurse is one that is beset 
 by many cares and anxieties, and the work is often fatiguing 
 and even exhausting, still the position is an honorable one, and 
 
11 
 
 its annoyances are not without iiccompenaations. Those are to 
 be found in the satisfaction which one feels in duty well performed, 
 in the consciousness of having been of use in easing the burden 
 of a suffering fellow-being, in the grateful foelingH of the sick, 
 and in the expressed thanks of tho^se who, by the recovery of 
 one whom she has faithfully. nursed, have been relieved from a 
 crushing load of anxiety and caie. It is to be hoped that you 
 have not decided to enter on this career under the impression 
 that it is an easy matter to acquire the knowledge necessary to 
 perform the duties of a nurse, that very little effort or applica- 
 tion is required to make you a trustworthy and etiicient aid to 
 the physician in the care of the sick. There is an expression 
 which we often hear repeated that some women are '• born 
 nurses." Kvery woman, in my opinion, is a " born nurse," if 
 the possession of a natural aptitmle for nursing the sick be 
 considered as entitling her to that appellation. As in all 
 other occupations, however, so we find in this, that there 
 are some individuals who take a foremost position, and are 
 more thorough than others. In a few instances this may un- 
 doubtedly be due to tlu; circumstance of these persons possessing 
 exceptionally good natural abilities, which enable them to take a 
 deeper and clearer view of all the requirements and possibiliti(>s 
 of any position they may as|)ire to, and to adapt themselves more 
 readily, and as it were more naturally, to the duties of the posi- 
 tion. But, even with such advantages, these people eannot excel 
 unless they have received a thorough training in the routine and 
 education in the natnn* of the duties of the position which they 
 seek to fill. It is only poets and beings akin to them that I'equire 
 no training. They are supposed to come into the world prepared 
 foi- their work. As the familiar ([notation has it: Poets are born 
 poets, and not made so (^poeta nascitur nonjit.) Kducation and train- 
 ing, however, are necessar}' to make a nurse. There is nothing 
 in the art of nursing that any woman of ordinaiy intelligence 
 may not overcome. But > attain to a high degree of excellenee, 
 she mu>t call into serviee patience, perseverance, and devotion to 
 duty, and submit cheei-fuUy to a thorough .system of training. 
 It is most singular, nevertheless perfectly true, that in Great 
 
12 
 
 Britain, to so late a period as foi vV years ago, and in this country 
 to a later date, nursinpr was regai*ded as an occupation to be 
 avoided by women of refineraont. Hospital nursing in particular 
 was relegated to uneducated women, many of whom were con- 
 sidered unfit foi" any other kind of work. 
 
 When, in the memorable autumn of the year 1854, the cry 
 went forth through the length and breadth of the land that oui* 
 brave soldiers, who were wounded in battle and prostrated by 
 sickness whilst fighting for their country's cause and upholding 
 her honor in a foreign land, were lying in misery and suffering 
 and dying by hundreds without adequate help, and frequently in 
 want of the necessaries of life, the heart of the nation was stirred 
 to its very depths, and the voice of the nation demanded that 
 immediate and abundant relief be sent to the sufferers. All that 
 was required in the matter of stores and medicines were promptly 
 despatched, and there were many volunteers eager to enrol them- 
 selves on the staff of nurses who wei'e to reinfoi'Ce the over- 
 worked attendants on the sick. But here the momentous question 
 arose : Who in Great Britain was best fitted by special training, 
 personal qualities and administrative abilities to take full control 
 of the movement inaugurated, and to utilize the means furnished 
 by the Government for a complete reform in hospital arrange- 
 ments and management at the seat of war ? The answer was 
 not long in coming. In the pleasant English home of Lea 
 Hurst, situated near the river Derwont, and amid the pic- 
 turesque scenery of the Matlock district, Derbyshire, a well 
 born, refined, and highly educated lady was, at this time, 
 recruiting her strength, somewhat exhausted by a long- 
 continued and too close application to philanthropic pursuits. 
 For many years she had made hospital work, and especially 
 hospital nursing, the great study of her life, and when the sad 
 news reached Lea Hurst, as it reached every homestead in 
 England, that brave men were dying solely from the want of 
 proper care and nursing, she knew that the supreme moment 
 of her life had come. At once she placed her services at the dis- 
 posal of her country, and the offer was promptly and gratefully 
 
It 
 
 accepted by the Minister of "War, Mr. Sydney Herbert, who was 
 well acquainted with her work and worth. 
 
 This lady was Florence Nightingale, the great apostle of 
 modem 8cienti6c nursing, and who is now recognized as one of 
 the world's grand heroic women, whose name and fame shall live 
 'herever and so long as the English language exists. With her 
 little band of thirty-four devoted nurses, she proceeded at once to 
 Scutari and took under her charge the nursing department of the 
 extensive military hospitals at that place. The thoroughness of 
 the reforms which she instituted and that were carried out under 
 her unwearied personal care and supervision, can readily be esti- 
 mated by the results. When she entered on her charge the 
 patients were lying in rows upon the ground, the place was reek- 
 ing with filth, the stench was simply unbearable, and the mortal- 
 ity had risen to the appalling rate of 60 p.c. Before the end of 
 the war the hospitals might have been selected as model institu- 
 tions of their kind, and the death rate had diminished to a little 
 over 1 p.c. What an extraordinary expenditure of mental and 
 physical labor do these results represent. It is marvellous how a 
 delicately nurtured lady, naturally not very robust, could have 
 borne up under such a weight of work and responsibility. Such 
 endurance can only be attributed to that wonderful staying 
 power — imparted to the human worker by an all-absorbing pur- 
 suit, or by a high and holy purpose. 
 
 After her return from the Crimea, a grateful nation estab- 
 lished a Training School for Nurses in connection with the new 
 St. Thomas Hospital, London, and named it the Nightingale 
 Home. In this home nurses receive a thorough training for 
 their profession on the lines laid down by Miss Nightingale, and it 
 has become the model for training schools the world over. 
 
 One of the most important lesions that Florence Nightingale's 
 work has taught Europe and America is, — that to be a success 
 nursing must be taken out of the bunds of the ignorant and 
 uneducated and given over to intelligent and educated women, 
 who will accept it as their vocation and prepare themselves to 
 faithfully discharge its duties. And we find at the present day 
 that many ladies of England, taking that noble woman as their 
 
14 
 
 exemplar, have manifested a deep interest, not only in the train, 
 ing of nursee, but in every movement having for its object the 
 well-being of humanity. And much of the philanthropic work of 
 the present day receives important and material aid from 
 woman's sympathy and woman's work. Not a few, moreover^ 
 have entered the ranks of the i)rofebsion and made the care of the 
 sick the work of their lives. 
 
 Among the former, and not the least devoted, may be men- 
 tioned Lady Stanley, who has graciously accompanied His 
 Excellency the Governor-General to take part in and honor by 
 their presence the inauguration of this school. It may not be 
 known to many present, and it is with much pleasure I announce 
 the fact, that in the city of Ottawa u handsome and commodious 
 building is now in course of erection and near completion, 
 specially designed and intended for the accommodation of trained 
 nurses. This building is to be named '' The Lady Stanley 
 Institution for Trained Nurses;" and fittingly so, for the credit 
 of originating the movement is due to Lady Stanley, and it has 
 been brought to a successful issue mainly through her energy and 
 well-directed eflforts. All honor to Lady Stanley, and success to 
 the institution which will bear her name. 
 
 The great facilities which this old and popular institution, the 
 Montreal General Hospital, has ottered for the instruction of 
 nurses has long been recognized b}' the ruling authorities and by 
 the Medical Board, and on two separate occasions attempts have 
 been made to utilize the advantages which it presents, and to 
 form in connection with its wards a Training School for nurses. 
 bVom causes, into which it would be unprofitable to closely 
 enquire, these attempts miscarried, to the deep regret of all who 
 have been conversant with the necessity which has existed for 
 such a school in this city. For many years there has been a 
 lamentable dearth of good nurses in Montreal. True there has 
 always been a certain number of intelligent women of sound 
 Judgment, who, under the direction and instruction of individual 
 physicians, have acquired marked pi'oficiency in the act of nurs- 
 ing, and these women are worthy of honorable mention for the 
 great assistance which they have afforded to the mombere of the 
 
15 
 
 medical profeseion in the careful nuising of their patients, and 
 for the good which they have done to the general public by 
 honest, faithful nursing of the sick. Very many of those, how- 
 ever, who have taken up the role and offered their services as 
 nurses, have been so profoundly ignorant of the simplest and 
 most elementary principles of nursing, that it was fortunate if 
 the patient escaped without injury from their clumsy ill directed 
 attentions.. Recently, we have had desirable additions to the ranks 
 of the nurses in this city by the advent of several graduates from 
 the Training Schools of other cities. They are entitled to and have 
 received a cordial recognition, and, I believe, have had no reason 
 to complain of the paucity of the demands on their services. But 
 what a humiliation it has been to Montreal that with facilities 
 which cannot be surpassed for imparting a thorough knowledge 
 of the art of nursing, no organization has as yet been successfully 
 carried out to render these available, and ladies of this commu- 
 nity desirous of becoming nurses have actually been obliged to 
 resort to other cities and other countries to obtain the necessary 
 instruction. 
 
 The recent step taken by the present Committee of Manage- 
 ment of the Montreal General Hospital to establish on a perma- 
 nent basis a Traming School for nurses in connection with the 
 wards of this institution, is one, taking the interests of the 
 public into consideration, deserving of the highest commen- 
 dation. B3' their action in this matter, moreover, they will 
 undoubtedly remove the stigma which has been attached to the 
 city — that she has had to depend for her supply of trained 
 nurses on foreign and outside sources. The movement, I need 
 scarcely say, has received the warm support and co-operation of 
 the Medical Board, and to-day wo have as a result an organiza- 
 tion for the training of nurses, which tor completeness and 
 efficiency will compare favorably with any other similar organ- 
 ization on this continent. An organization pre-suppose.s an 
 organizer, and the one we are dealing with is no exception to the 
 rule. The authorities of the Hospital have had the good fortune 
 to secure the services of Miss Livingston for the position of 
 Lady Superintendent of the Hospital and Directress of the 
 
16 
 
 Ti'aining School for nurses. Endowed with many estimable 
 qualities, thin lady is eminently fitted, by education and training, 
 to discharge the duties of the responsible position to which she 
 has been preferred, and it speaks volumes in favor of her 
 energy and administrative abilities that in so short a time after 
 her appointment, a training school for nurses, fully equipped 
 and ready for active work has been successfully established. Her 
 ett'oi'ts, T may add, have becsu earnestly seconded and ably assisted 
 by Dr. Kirk])atrick, the Medical Superintendent of the Hospital. 
 
 This school, the classes of which you have entered as students, 
 is destined to be a credit to the city ami a blessing to the com- 
 munity. For it is the determination of all connected with it to 
 carry out thoroughly the objects for which it has been established 
 and to provide the public with nurses carefully trained in their 
 profession. This training is to extend over a period of two years. 
 It will include residence in the Hospital — strict disciplinary 
 an*angements — practical instruction in the wards in all that 
 appertains to the nursing and care of the sick — and of didactic 
 lectures delivered by the members of the attending staff of the 
 Hospital pnd by the directress of the school. 
 
 Two lectures will be given on Anatomy, prominence being given 
 to the bones, arteries, nerves and surface markings. Two on 
 Materia Medica, including poisons and their antidotes. Two on 
 Physiology. One on Dressings, Instruments and Appliances. One 
 on Hygeine Ventilation, Dietetics. Disinfectants. One on Bandaging. 
 One on Slight Ailments and their treatment. Two on Medical 
 Emergencies, such as Fits and Unconsciousness, Dyspnoea, Internal 
 Hemorrhage, use of Hypodermic Syringe, &c. Two on Surgical 
 Energencies, embi-acing Hemorrhage, Burns and Scalds, Acci- 
 dents and their treatment. One on the Eye and Ear. One on the 
 Throat and Nose. One on Gymecological Nursing. One on Children, 
 Emergencies and Special I^ursing. One on Contageous Diseases. 
 One on Fever Nursing and Temperature Taking, and two on 
 Obstetrical Nursing. In all twenty-two lectures. 
 
 In addition, so soon as proper arrangements can be made, 
 practical instruction by competent teachers will be given on the 
 mode of preparing articles of diet for the sick. 
 
It 
 
 This curriculum, as you will perceive, covers a wide field of 
 study and embraces a variety of subject t. ft ii- noi too exacting 
 however, as it ^simply provides for youi* instructior. in matters 
 which are either of the ^leatest importance to you, or which it is 
 expected you should know. A f^eneral knowledge, for instance, 
 of the construction of the human frame, of the organs it contains, 
 and of the wondei'ful processes by which vitality is maintained, is 
 necessaiy to enable you to carry out your work and discharge 
 your duties to sick and disabled humanity in an intelligent and 
 proper manner. It will also give you a clearer insight into the 
 objects which the medical attendant has in view in the directions 
 he may give you, and enlighten you as to the importance of 
 scrupulously carrying out his directions. As accidents and 
 injuries are liable to occur to both the healthy and the sick, it is 
 desirable that you should be familiar with the means best adapted 
 to their relief, so that you may be able to apply them promptly, 
 pending the arrival of the attending Phy.sician oi* Surgeon. 
 Ample instruction on these points will be given in the lectures on 
 Surgical and Medical Emergencies, Poisons and their antidotes* 
 Hemorrhages, Scalds and Burns, Fits and Unconsciousness. The 
 lecture on Hygiene will bring before you the principles which 
 lie at the foundation of all rational movements for the conserva- 
 tion of health, the prevention of disease, and the prolongation 
 of life. The general public, especially the lower orders of society, 
 are sadly <lcficient in a knowledge of these principles, and hence 
 the unsanitary state of their persons, dwellings and surroundings, 
 and the unwisdom with which they oppose any great movement 
 of sanitary reform. Brought into contact, as you will be by the 
 nature of your prolbssion, with persons differing widely as to 
 education, culture and retinement, it will be your duty in all cases 
 to carry out and insist on the observance of strict hygienic 
 measures. In this way you may be useful in spreading amongst 
 the community a knowledge of hygienic principles, and thus 
 assist in removing much of the crass ignorance which exists 
 regarding the importance of personal hygiene. The remaining 
 subjecte included in the curriculum consist of those of which it is 
 desirable that you should obtain a fuller knowledge than can be 
 
18 
 
 gained from Himple instruction in the wards and at the bed-side 
 of the patient, snch as Slight Ailmenlis, the Eye, Ear, Throat and 
 Nose, Special Nursing of Children, Gyniucological and Obstetrical 
 Nursing, Contageous Diseases, &c. 
 
 In passing through this course of study and training, the 
 successful completion of which is necessary to your obtaining the 
 Diploma of this School, there are several duties incumbent on 
 you which it would be well for you to consider at this time and 
 endeavor at all times loyally to observe. 
 
 First. — To THE Physicians op the Hospital. 
 
 Always bear in mind that the members of the Medical Staff of 
 the Hospital, who have so promptlj'and generously responded to 
 the request of the Committee of Management to deliver the course 
 of lectures included in the curiiculum, have, in this matter, been 
 actuated solely by the desii-e to ensure the success of the school, 
 and to impart such knowledge as shall, with the teachings of 
 the Directress of the School, make those graduating from it 
 thoroughly conversant with everything an accomplished nurse 
 should know. Their efforts for your insti'uction and improvement 
 should receive a warm recognition on your part and you sbbuld 
 do all in your power to profit by these efforts. A careful, atten- 
 tive and diligent student is always a comfort and satisfaction to 
 the teacher. See to it, then, that you apply yourselves to your 
 studies with care, attention and diligence. Listen intelligently 
 to all the directions given to j^ou in the wards of the Hospital by 
 the attending Physician, and faithfully carry them out. Never 
 allow yourselves for a moment to question the necessity or utility 
 of any direction given. The responsibility for the treatment of 
 the patient rests with the physician; the responsibility of 
 applying and carrying out the treatment in part rests with the 
 nurse. Not the slightest deviation from or alteration of a given 
 order should be made unless by the consent of the Physician who 
 has issued it. Promptly check any disposition 3'ou may feel to 
 speak disparagingly of the practice of any physician, or to give 
 expression to uncalled for, and, it may often be, unjustly biassed 
 opinions on the comparative abilities of different practitioners. 
 
19 
 
 Your duty us nurse in lolation to the modical nttondanl of the 
 patient iH — to quietly and thoroughly cany out the directions 
 you may receive from him — to bo an eflScient and trustworthy 
 aid to him in the care of the sick, and not to constitute yourself 
 in any way his censor or critic. 
 
 Second. — To the Directresa 0/ the iSchool. 
 
 An organization such as wo iiavo in this Training School for 
 nurses, involving so many varied relations, so many grades of 
 position, continued residence in the Hospital, and uninterrupted 
 study for two years, cannot bo brought to a successful issue if 
 proper disciplinaiy airangenionts bo not established, and firmly 
 but wisely and temperately carried out. The power to make 
 and enforce such arrangements has, with tho concurrence of the 
 Medical Hoard, been conferred by the Committee of Management 
 on the Directress, " whose authority extends over all that per- 
 tains to the duties and discipline of tho nurses in the wards, as 
 well as to the details of their instruction in the school." The 
 position of Directress is, therefore, an honorable but at the same 
 time a most onerous one. It is in your power to do much to 
 lighten her labors, and to establish with her relations of the 
 kindliest and pleasantest nature, by a willing and cheerful acqui- 
 e.ssence in all the rules laid down for your guidance and direc- 
 tion — by a loyal recognition of her authority — and by a close and 
 earnest attention to her instructions ; and certainly, if you desire 
 to excel in the art of nursing you should possess qualities that 
 would prompt you to act in this manner. For a spirit of uni-est, 
 of dissatisfaction, of carping /ind (ault -finding, is certain to pro- 
 duce much that may be unpleasant and regretable, and is a sure 
 indication that its possessor is totally unfit for the position of 
 a nurse. Few things are moio pleasant to contemplate, or more 
 agreeable to those interested, than a number oi persons occupy- 
 ing different positions but associated together for a definite object 
 working in perfect harmony and with mutual respect and esteem. 
 Under such conditions the best results may be always predicated 
 Your success and the success of the school largely depends upon 
 your cultivating for and manifesting towards each other feelings 
 
20 
 
 of kindly interest, and for the head nurses and the Directress 
 feelings of confidence and esteem. For if these exist, and are 
 mutually reciprocated, all parties will work cheerfully and ener- 
 getically to secure the object they have in view — the Directress 
 to so train and impart instruction to the nurses that they may 
 successfully graduate at the end of the two years allotted to 
 study, and be a credit to the school over which she presides; the 
 nurse to utilize in every way the opportunities she has of per- 
 fecting herself in a knowledge of the art of nursing so as to be a 
 credit to her profession and an honor to the school from which 
 she has graduated. 
 
 Third. — To the Patient. 
 
 Human sulfering h'^-s never appealed in vain to the sympathy 
 of a woman professing a true womanly nature, and, in no one, 
 be she highly or lowly born has this been more strikingly exem- 
 plified than in the person of our beloved Sovereign, the Queen 
 of Great Britain and Empress of India. Her great womanly 
 heart which sheds additional lustre on the throne she occupies, 
 has been chastened by a deep abiding sorrow for the loss of one 
 on whom was centered her deepest affections — who was the sun 
 and glory of her home — a lamp to her feet in treading the rugged 
 path of official life, and a light to her mind in discharging the 
 weighty and multifarious duties of her exalted station. Few 
 men have been so deeply and faithfully mourned, and few have 
 so merited it, as the late Prince Conf^rt, whose rare jud«i;ment, 
 high principles and noble character endeared him to the British 
 people, and who shall ever live in British history as Albert the 
 Wise and the Good. 
 
 Her sympathy for human suifering has not been confined to 
 the members of any one rank or station in life, nor to those of 
 any nationality, race or creed. It has been as freely extended 
 to the humblest as to the most exalted of her subjects — to the 
 dweller in other lands as well as to the peoples of her own em- 
 pire. It has included in its Catholicity sorrow and suffering 
 wherever found. 
 
 GOD BLESS AND SAVE THE QUEEN. 
 
21 
 
 Certain am I that this great and characteristic feature of 
 womanjy character is possessed in a marked degrt'o by each one 
 of you, and that to its unnoted but powerful influence is mainly 
 to be referred your decision to adopt the profession of a nurse. 
 There is no necessity to admonish you to be Icind to your patients, 
 for kind you will be. Kindness, however, must be governed by 
 judgment and tempered by firmness. To allow a feeling of pity 
 to influence you in humoring the whims and capricos of the sick 
 would be a serious error on your part. Oftentimes these maybe 
 indulged without injury to the patient, but on the other hand, 
 giving way to them may seriously interfere with his treatment 
 and the ultimate chances of his recovery. In this matter follow 
 strictly the advice of the medical attendant, to whoso judgmoat 
 it should always berefeii-e<l. It is quite possible even in the Hospital 
 wards that youmaj' become acquainted with matters pertaining 
 to the patient, on which it is advisable that you should maintain 
 a discreet silence. This is more likely to occur after you have 
 obtained your diploma, and when, in the practice ol" your profes- 
 sion, you are admitted into private families. From the first then 
 cultivate the practice of seeing everything, but as if you had no 
 eyes — of hearing everything, but as if you had no ears, and above 
 all, keeping your own counsel as if you had no tongue. By 
 adopting and carrying out this line of conduct you will best con- 
 sult your own interests. For reticence and discretion are quali- 
 ties highly prized in a nurse, whilst inquisiliveness and garrul- 
 ousness are dreaded and held in contempt. Given a nurse with 
 superior abilities, of good education and thoroughly trained, 
 who has the reputation of being a gossip, and the probable result 
 is failure. On the other hand, given a nurse with moderate 
 abilities and fairly ti-ained, who has the reputation of being 
 discreet, and the probable result is success. 
 
 Your principle duty to patients may be slate<i in a few words, 
 and is happily one of vital importance to yourselves, namely, 
 — to so master the principles, and to become so convci-sant with 
 the details of the art of nursing, that under your care they will 
 receive all the good that perfect nursing can accomplish to 
 carry them through a period of illness and restore them again to 
 a state of health. . , 
 
22 
 
 In conclusion, ladicH, — Ponder well and seriously the impor- 
 tance of the step which you have taken, and the great responsi- 
 bilities that attach to the position to which you aspire. To your 
 care will be contided lives around which are clustered the 
 warmest and deepest affections of parents, relatives and friends — 
 the life of the bread-winner of the family, that of the devoted 
 loving mother — of the bright, intelligent, promising son — of the 
 gentle, tender and affectionate daughter. Precious indeed are 
 such lives, and when disease invades them and threatens their 
 dissolution, the work of a sympathetic well trained nurse who 
 faithfully carries out the directions of the physician is a most 
 important element in the treatment of the patient. Medical 
 science, skill and experience may fiiil in saving life through the 
 baleful influence of careless hap-hazard nursing. 
 
 In view then of the great responsibilities which will devolve 
 upon you, enter on your studies with the firm determination to 
 perfect yourselves in all knowledge pertaining to the art of 
 nursing. Do not minify anything, not even that which seems to 
 be the most insignificant particular in what you are taught, or 
 dii-ected to observe and practise at the bed-side. leather magnify 
 the importance of everything your instructors decide it is 
 necessary you should know. Aim high and rest not satisfied 
 short of being thorough. 
 
 That you may be successful in your studies, thai you may 
 prove to be earnest devoted nurses and efficient aids to the physi- 
 cian in the treatment of the sick; and further, that the blessing 
 of heaven may follow you and rest on your ministrations to the 
 sick and atllicted, is tlu^ earnest and sincei-e wish not only oi' the 
 one who addresses you, but of all who have the cause of suffer- 
 ing humanity seriously at heart. 
 
 Ills KXCELLENCYS SPEECH. 
 
 The Governor-deneral expressed the pleasure with which he 
 and Lady Stanley accepted the invitation to bo ])re8ent that day, 
 for they felt it was the best evidence they could afford of the 
 deep interest they took both in an official and a private charactej- 
 in that which had called the gathering together that day. As 
 
28 
 
 to the capacity part of the work, ho was not quite sure that he 
 felt in any way qualilied to address the audience on that point. 
 The clear and terse statement of the pi-esident, and the able and 
 exhaustive address of Dr. MacCallum, had covoi-ed most of the 
 ground, which he should have liked, as an outsider, to have 
 taken. Hence he must ask them to put up with remarks rathei* 
 addressed from the point of an outsider and spoken in the 
 interests and on behalf of the general public. To that which 
 had been spoken to the ladies who had so wisely and nobly 
 adopted nursing as a profession he would not attempt to add or 
 detract anything. The eminent arrangements of the hospital, 
 the skill of its staff, the manner in which every administrative 
 detail was looked into, and the gentleness which was exei-cised 
 by the lady superintendent, in conjunction with the medical 
 officers, were topics upon which on another occasion he might 
 speak ; but at present he proposed to speak on the interest which 
 the general public took in the extensive benefits of nursing, not 
 only within the four walls of a hospital, but outside, where, 
 perhaps, there was greater need for skilled nurses. It was 
 hardly possible to realize the change which had taken place in 
 respect to nursing in private houses. The im[)ortance of nursing 
 the sick properly was now ^ully recognized, not onl}' outside but 
 by the medical profession ao well, and it was felt that not only in 
 the hospital, but in the private houses, thero should be the most 
 efficient nursing which could be obtained, and so bring to the 
 patient every chance of recovery which mortal skill could give, 
 or, at least, an abatement of the disease. Riches were no ex- 
 emption from illness, poverty was no bar to it, and there were 
 none who could with contidence say that those nearest and 
 dearest to them might not be within the next twenty-four hours 
 the subject of accident or disease. Nursing the sick was, thei'e- 
 foie, a subject which appealed to all, ami when the importance 
 of it was recognized, he hopcil the practical spirit of the 
 nineteenth century would enable us to lay hold of that which is 
 best to meet the evil and to deal with it as etilciently as wo could 
 by Ihe light afforded us. lie thought that no oiie could have 
 witnessed any amoimt of sickness or suffering without seeing 
 
24 
 
 what great opportunities were afforded for the alleviation of 
 distress, and how an over-anxious nurse in a private home might 
 do as much harm as if there were no nursing ^t all. One of 
 
 l^FiE Primary Duties ok the Nurse 
 
 was obedience to the commands of the medical man. The nurse 
 might sometimes be tempted to think that the doctor had over- 
 estimated some symptom or underestimated another; but she 
 should obey his orders ; he was the judge of the case and had had 
 more experience than she. She should allow no mistaken kind- 
 ness or any extraordinary pri'sstire which mighl bo brought to 
 hear upon her to influence her in not strictly following the in- 
 junctions of the medical attendant. Speaking more directly of 
 the opening of the training school he said that gathering was 
 called the opening of the schot)!, but it was a figure of speech, for 
 it had been open for some little time. Ke hoj)ed, however, that 
 in one sense that day might be the opening of it, and that from 
 that place there might go forth those who. having seen what 
 blessings had l)een conferred upon the city by wise forethought 
 and mimificence on the part of some, and by skill and devotion 
 on the part of those latlies who had joined the training school, 
 would make it the parent school of others which would spread 
 tiiroughout the land, and that those who took up the same 
 sacred duties in other parts of the Dominion might feel they 
 could turn to that school as a ])arent, model aiul guide. But the 
 nurses should be careful, while effecting the cure of a patient, 
 that tliey did not leave incipient cases of heart disease behind 
 (Laughter and applause). JJeferi-ing to what had been said 
 respecting Lady Stanley's work at Ottawa, he said it was by no 
 means an easy thing to cany out such work, even though the 
 sf«d might bo plentifully scattered and the soil bo favorable. 
 But he believed that in the titular capital, no less than hei-e, it 
 would be productive of good. In what ho had said he had only 
 endeavored to impart to them one tithe of the interest which 
 he and others took in the work, which was one of the highest 
 duties that could be cast u[>on us. In agricultural matters it 
 had been said that those persons were benefactors to mankind 
 
25 
 
 who could force two blades of i^rass to grow where only one 
 
 grew before. Surely, no less could be said of those who could 
 
 save suffering humanity one single pang, had been instrumental 
 
 in work which, to a greatei- oi- less extent, would bring its 
 
 I'cward, He earnestly hoped that the great work which had 
 
 been begun would not, by indifference or lack of support, be 
 
 allowed to languish, but that it would be carried forward on the 
 
 flood tide of increasing success, and that in future years others 
 
 would have the satisfaction of thinking that though the 
 
 beginning was pei'haps rathcJ' long in coming, still what was 
 
 worth doing at all was wf)rth doing well, l^bey would remember 
 
 th:it this great city had led the way, as she had done in many 
 
 other things, in that which, without distinction of race or creed, 
 
 conferred a universal blessing ii])om the sick mikI suffering. 
 
 (A|)plause.) 
 
 Dk. ('RAIk's Adoukss. 
 
 It is my pleasing duty, as the rcpresejitativc of the Comndttee 
 of Management of the Monti'eal (Jcncral Hospital, to otler you 
 our warmest thanks for the honoi- and kindness you have done 
 us, in assisting at this, the inaugural celebration of the opening of 
 Ihe new department of our Hospital, its now fully organized 
 Training School for Nurses. To you, my Lord, and to Lady 
 Staidey, our thanks are more especially due, for having at such 
 personal inconvenience honoied us with your presence; and wo 
 see in it another example of that warmdiearted inter-est which 
 your Excellencies have shown on so many occasions, in thesocial, 
 educational and benevolent institutions of this country, and vvhiidi 
 has helped in so large a measure to draw towaids you the hearts 
 of the whole community. 
 
 And I would ask all onv friends to believe, that our thanks ar<! 
 not merely empty words to plea»e the ear, but real thariks for 
 real kindness; for we cannot but feel that such a gathering as this, 
 representative as it is, of all classes of the communit}', is a proof 
 of the continued sympathy and good will of that public, to which 
 the Hospital owes its supj)ort, and indeed its ver}' existence. 
 
 Our Hospital is not a largely endowed institution, like some of 
 the hospitals of Europe or of this continent. So far as its equip- 
 
2G 
 
 ment and maintenance are concerned, it may be said to be almost 
 entirely unendowed, for such donations and bequests as it has 
 received, and which might be considered of the nature of endow- 
 ments, have nearly always been in the dii-ection of providing 
 necessary buildings and oxtensions, and scarcely ever of nuch a 
 nature as to yield a permanent revenue. 
 
 The only semblance of a permanent fund, consists of a small 
 sum — derived chiefly from the entrance fees (of one hundred 
 dollars each) from our Life (Jovernors, and even this little fund 
 is not permanent, for it has to be trenched upon every now and 
 then to relieve some pressing need, such as an epidemic out- 
 break of disease, or necessary repairs and renewals to some of 
 our buildings. 
 
 It follows, therefore, that the real maintenance of the 
 Hospital, is almost wholly dependent upon the voluntary con- 
 tributions of the citizens of Montreal trom year to year; and it 
 is due to them to say that they have always given willingly and 
 liberally according to their means, from the hundreds of dollars 
 of the rich merchants, to the tens and twenties of professional men 
 and persons of limited income, down to the shillings and six- 
 pences of the artizan and the laborer. 
 
 Nor have our buildings been of the expensive or ornamental 
 kind. We have had no impo.-ing facades, no mai'ble steps nor 
 co.>^tly internal fittings, but yet our patients have been well housed 
 and cared for, well fed and with comfortable bods to lie upon, 
 and it has been our aim to make up for the lack of luxuries and 
 expensive appliances, by skilful treatment and kindly attention, 
 and we hope we have succeeded. We certainly seem to have won 
 and to have retained the confidence of those upon whom the Hos- 
 pital is chiefly dependent for support; and although we may be 
 said to be almost in a .state of chronic poverty, and find it difticult 
 year by year to make ends meet ; yet our credit has always been 
 good, for we have been careful never to abuse it ; and when spe- 
 cial needs have arisen, — even for consideiable sums, — by taking 
 the public into our confidence, the money has always been forth- 
 coming. 
 
 In this way we have tried to make the contributions of our 
 
 friends go as far as possible in doing good ; and realizing our re- 
 
27 
 
 sponsibilities as administrators, we have tried to do the greatest 
 ifood to the greatest number with the means at our disposal, and 
 while we have endeavoi-cd to keep pace with the progress of 
 modern discovery and modern science, wo have not allowed our- 
 selves to be drawn aside into costly and often fruitless experi- 
 ments which we could ill atVord. 
 
 But, it may be asked, what has all this to tlo with the Training 
 School for Nurses ? Tt has hud much to do with it. it explains 
 why our Monti-eal Hospital has seemed to lag behind in this 
 matter of giving to nu'-ses a proper scientific training. It was 
 not that we were indit!erent t(» what was being done in this 
 direction by other Jlospitals. Far from it ! But because we 
 found by actual experiment, that to cany on a Training .School 
 lor Nursts in the earlier days of the movement, involved an 
 expenditure so groat in ])roportion to its benefits, that the useful- 
 ness of the Hospital as a whole wouUl be seriously curtailed, and 
 having no available separate funds to carry on the experiment, 
 we were fain to reti-ace our steps and to leave the matter in 
 abeyance, till such time us we should see our way to resume it 
 with more assured prospects of permanent success. 
 
 And that time has now come. We have watched and waited 
 with unflagging intei-est, until we have seen the gradual changes 
 and impi'ovements which have taken place in the original system 
 of Training Schools. The lopping olV and the weeding out of 
 useless and expensive exci'cscences and encumbrances, and the 
 gradual substitution of simplei- and less expensive methods, until 
 wo have now adopted a system, and have in successful operation 
 a Training School for Nurse?, which, for real efficiency, we think 
 will bear ct)mparison with any on this continent, and at a cost 
 which will be scarcely, if at all, greater than that of any ordinary 
 system of unskilled nursing. 
 
 And how has this been brought about? Pai'adoxical as it may 
 seem, — by what api)eared to be a series of misfortunes. .About a 
 year andahalf ago, our then Lad}' Superintendent, Miss Rimmer, 
 of whose valuable services to the Hospital I cannot speak too 
 highly, became seriously ill from over-work, and wo were 
 reluctantly compelled toaccejtt her resignation, .\bout the same 
 
28 
 
 lime, the little brick building which had been used for several 
 yearH as a lodging house for the nurses, became altogether unfit 
 for the purpose, and accommodation had to be provided for them 
 elsewhere. Also, about the same time, the roof of the main 
 building, part of which had done service for nearly seventy years, 
 was condemned by the auihorities and it became necessary to 
 renew it. 
 
 Then it was, that in discussing the ways and means of providing 
 for these contingencies, we at length saw our way to the accom- 
 plishment of our desires, in the establishment of a properly 
 organized and equipped Training School for Nurses. The happy 
 thought occurred to some one, that in the necessary renewal of 
 the roof of (he main building, ample accommodation could be 
 |)rovidcd for a full statf of nurses, by making the roof a '' Mansard " 
 and thus converting a useless attic into a commodious flat. 
 
 The vacancy, also, in the office of Lady Superintendent, made it 
 possible to search for and to secure the services, of a thoroughly 
 competent and scientitically ^Prained Lady for that position. 
 These changes being decided upon, it was only a question of a 
 little time until they were carried out, and we have now the 
 satisfaction of seeing our School in full and successful operation, 
 with the necessary assistants and teachers and a full staff' of 
 nurses, the whole changes having been effected without a 
 moment's intei-ruption to the proper work of the Hospital, and at 
 a cost very little greater than would have been required, to make 
 the necessary repairs and alterations for carrying on the work in 
 the old-fashioned way. 
 
 The cost of these repairs and alterations has, of course, been 
 considerable. The estimates for the construction of the additional 
 flat with the Mansard roof were somewhere about twelve thousand 
 dollars, and the actual cost was very little above that sum ; but the 
 wards themselves and the buildings generally requii'ed repairs 
 and renovations, and the whole Hospital premises both within 
 and without had to be touched up and made presentable, and 
 these improvements absorbed a thousand or two more. But the 
 result has been well worth the outlay, Our Hospital, instead of 
 being a thing to be ashamed of, is now something to be proud of, 
 
29 
 
 and its usefulness has been lai-gely ineroased. The beneficial 
 results of the changes are already making themselves felt, and will 
 in the future still moie make themselves felt, in a gradual inci-ease 
 in the proportion of cures and in a corresponding decrease in the 
 rate of mortality. 
 
 One great advantage of the system we have adopted, is ttal 
 the Training School is part and parcel of the Hospital itself. 
 There is no troublesome line of demarcation between them, and 
 what benefits the one also does good to the other. Our nurses in 
 training, with the few necessary head nurses or instructors, do 
 the whole nursing work of the Hospital. And they do it well. 
 Thanks to the wise and skilful maiuigement of the Lady Superin- 
 dent, Miss Livingston, and her eai-nest and etticient deputy, Miss 
 Quaife, they are being thoroughly* well trained, and their ertorts 
 are well supported and supplemented by our able and onthuiastie 
 Medical Superintendent, Dr. Kirkpatrick. 
 
 And these are some of our nurses. They are healthy and the^- 
 are happy. They are well educated, they have cultivated minds 
 and refined tastes. Thej' have come to us of their own free will, 
 having chosen the nursing of the sick as their life's work, 
 because they have a natuial aptitude for it. The}' have kindly 
 instincts and they yield ready and willing obedience to those in 
 authority. They love their profession and they ai-e earnestly 
 anxious to excel in it. 
 
 And that is their working diess. It is not costly ; it is not 
 made of silk nor satin ; indeed, it is made of materials that are 
 •luite inexpensive. We think it appropriate, and we hope you 
 will think it not unbecoming, C)ur poor sick patients like it. 
 They say it cheers them. And why should they not be cheered? 
 Why should not the dull eyes of illness be made a little less dull, 
 by having before them something bi-ight and pleasant to look 
 upon? And all the more when with the drosses, are warm hearts 
 and willing hands. They furnish also to the patients, a continual 
 object lesson in cleanlitiess ami personal tidiness, virtues which 
 are often sadly neglected by the class to which they minister. 
 
 1 might go on to show some of the collateral advantages to bo 
 derived from our Traijiing School : how it will bo useful not only 
 
so 
 
 to the HoBpitiil, but to individualH aiul private families. How 
 also, those nurses in their tui'n, will become trainers of others like 
 themselves, and so become centres of ever widening intluencc for 
 good, to other institutions and communities, and to future genera- 
 tions. But time will not permit, and it remains only for me, to 
 call attention for a few moments to the other side of the picture. 
 
 I have told you that our Hospital is nearly always in a chronic 
 state of poverty, and the necessary disbursements of the last 
 eighteen months have somewhat aggi-avated it. What with our 
 usual deficit at this season of the yea for working expenses, and 
 some of the items connected with the recent improvements which 
 have not yet been made good, we find ourselves with a veiy con- 
 siderable balance on the wrong side of our bank account. AVe 
 have been trying to reduce it, but it is still in the neighbourhood 
 of sixteen thousand dollars. Our bankers have been very good 
 to us, and have charged us a very low rate of interest, but the 
 amount will soon have to be ])aid, and unless our friends come to 
 the rescue, wo shall be obliged to take it from our modest little 
 endowment fund. Surely this can be avoided. Our friends who 
 have so often helped us before, will surol}* help us again, and 
 they will be mindful of the fact, that the Institution which now 
 asks for their help, was founded by their forefathers, and has been 
 the mainstay of their sick j)oor for several generations. 
 
 Christmas is close at hand. Will our friends not remember us 
 in tlieir oiferings, and will they not also ask their friends and 
 neighbours to remember us V 
 
 They will not ask us to spend our little capital, nor to curtail 
 our usefulness, but they will add to our store and give us the 
 means of extending our good work in increasing measure. 
 
 And now, my friends, I have said my say. I wish it had 
 been better said, foi- the cause is a good one. But you will not 
 allow the good cause to suffer through the shortcomings of its 
 advocate. You will join us, and you will strengthen our hands, in 
 the good work of helping the sick and the dying; and it is a 
 Hallowed work, for the Blessed Saviour himself loved to do it. 
 
 The*proceedings then closed with the benediction. 
 
MONTEEAL GENERAL HOSPITAI;. 
 OFFICE-BEARERS, 1890-91. 
 
 John Stirling, President. 
 
 F. Wolferstan Thomas, Treasurer. 
 
 Thomas Davidson, V^ioe-President. 
 George Ross, M.D., Secretary. 
 
 COMMiriEE OF MANAGEMENT. 
 
 Charles Alexander. 
 John C. Watson. 
 R. W. Shepherd. 
 Richard White. 
 J. P. Cleghorn. 
 
 S. H. Ewing. 
 Rohert Craik, M.l). 
 Charles Garth. 
 J. C. Holden. 
 Samuel Finley. 
 
 CONSULTING STAFF. 
 
 Robert Craik, M.D. 
 D.C. McCallum, M.D.,M.R.C.S. Eiig. 
 William Wright, M.D., L.R.C.8.E. 
 Robt. Godfrey, M.D. 
 
 Thus. Simpson, M.D. 
 J. C. Cameron, M.D.. M.R.C.P.l. 
 G. P. Gird wood, M.D., :M.R.C.S. 
 Eng. 
 
 PHYSICIANS. 
 
 George Ross, A.M., M.D 
 
 Geo. Wilkins, M.D,, M.R.C.S. Eng. Rich. L. Macdonnell, B.A., M.D. 
 
 Wm. A. Molson, M.D., M.R.C.S. Eng. 
 
 SURGEONS. 
 
 G. E. Fenwick, M.D. 
 T. G. Roddick, ^I.D. 
 
 Frs. J. Shepherd, M.D.,M.R.C.S.Eng. 
 James Bell, M.D. 
 
 ASSISTANT PHYSICIANS. 
 
 A. D. Blackader, B.A., M.D.. M.R.C.S. Eng. 
 F. W. Campbell, I\[.D., L.R.C.P. London. 
 James Stewart, M.D. 
 
 ASSISTANT SURGEONS. 
 
 W. R. Sutherland, M.D. 
 G. E. Armstrong, M.D. 
 Thos. A. Rodger, M.D. 
 
32 
 
 SPECIALISTS. 
 
 Frank Biiller, M.D., M.R.C.S., Oculist and Aurist. 
 .Fohn J. Gardner, M.D,, Assistant Oculist and Aiirist. 
 Wm. Gardner, M.D., ( Jynu'cologist. 
 T. Johnston Alloway, iM.D., Assistant Gymccologist. 
 George W. Major, B.A., M.I)., Laryngolo^'ist. 
 
 MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENT. 
 Robert C. Kirkpatrick, B.A., M.I>., CM., L.R.C.S.E., 
 
 RESIDENT MEDICAL OFFICERS. 
 
 R. E. McKechnie, M.D. W. E. Inksettor, M.D. 
 
 W. D. Smith, M.D. ('. E. K. Vidal, M.D. 
 
 H. D. Hiiuiilton, M.D. 
 
 NON-RESIDENT CLINICAL ASSISTANTS. 
 D. I. Evans, M.D. A. D. MacdOnald, M.D. 
 
 APOTHECARY. 
 W. P. Watson. 
 
 LADY SUPERINTENDENT. 
 Miss G. E. Nora Livingston. 
 
 CLERK OF COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. 
 James Patton. 
 
 STEWARD. 
 W. R. Bates. 
 
TRAIISriNG SCHOOL FOli NURSES. 
 
 
 Head NurseK. 
 
 Miss Ellen Chapman. 
 " Georgle Carroll. 
 " Jessie M. Preston. 
 " Julia IlnglisL. 
 " Christy McKay. 
 
 ^Senior Assistanls. 
 
 Miss Elizabeth Baikie. 
 
 " Alma E. Bush. 
 Barbara Haggart. 
 Bessie Conner. 
 
 " Charlotte M. Hetherington. 
 
 " Ethel Hobday. 
 
 '•■ Annie Colquhoun. 
 
 " Maggie Jackson. 
 
 " Alice Cashen. 
 
 " Eleanor Sait. 
 
 " Annie S. Prime. 
 
 " Hattie Howes. 
 
 " Emily Cooper. 
 
 " Ellen Thompson. 
 
 " Edith M. Green. 
 Mrs. Marie O'Donovan. 
 
 Miss 
 
 It 
 
 Junior Assistants, 
 
 Eugenie Burton. 
 
 Mary Collins. 
 
 Adelaide Frances Seaton. 
 
 Emma C. jNIercer. 
 
 Effie Darling. 
 
 Angle Dancey. 
 
 Alice M. Hall. 
 
 Jessie Macgregor. 
 
 Jean Sinclair. 
 
 Sallie Foster. 
 
 Nora Jolly. 
 
 Mary Annand. 
 
 Day Nurse in Charge. 
 Miss Fannie Quaife. 
 
 Night Nurse in Charge. 
 Mrs. Greatrex. 
 
 Nurse in Charge of Operating Room. 
 Miss Alicia Dunne. 
 
 Lady Superintendent. 
 Miss G. E. Nora Livingston. 
 
 8 
 
THAlNINi; SCHOOL COllIISE OF LECTURKS. 
 
 WINTER SESSION, 1890-91. 
 
 Oi3ening Address Dr. MacCuUum. 
 
 Nov. 1 — - f Anatomy | 
 
 " 22— -I Bones, Arteries, Nerves,— Surface [Dr. Sutherland. 
 ( Markings j 
 
 8— 2 f MateriaModicu 1 r,, w'««.nw 
 
 Dec. 6- tPoisons.etc jDr.h.ewart 
 
 Dec: 13-^ ^^!^^!^^f!^:v::.::::::::::v.::::':. j i^--. McKochme. 
 
 Nov. 29— 1 Dressings, Instruments, Appliances. Dr. Bell. 
 
 Dec. 20 — 1 Hygiene, Ventilation, Dietetics, \ n n "i 
 Disinfectants / ^''- '-'■*^^- 
 
 Jan. 3 — 1 Bandaging Dr. Kirkpatrick. 
 
 " 10— 1 Slight Ailments and their Treatment, Dr. F. W. Campbell. 
 
 17 — 2 ' Medical Emergencies ") 
 
 31 — Fits and Unconsciousness, Internal | 
 
 Hemorrhage, Dyspno'a, — Causes [-Dr. Wilkins 
 
 and Treatment; Use of Hypo- j 
 
 " 24—2 
 Feb. 7— 
 
 dermic Syringe. 
 
 Surgical Emergencies ] 
 
 Hemorrhage, Burns and Scalds, Frac- | Dr. Armstrong. 
 
 tures and AVounds, Drowning and | Dr. Rodger. 
 
 Artificial Respiration J 
 
 " 14— 1 Eye and Ear Dr. Buller. 
 
 " 21— 1 Throat and Nose Dr. Major. 
 
 " 28— 1 Gynfficological Nursing Dr. Gardner. 
 
 Mch. 7 — I'Children — Emergencies and Special 1 t-, t>i i i 
 
 Nursing .^ . . . }Ur. Blackader. 
 
 " 14— 1 Contagious Diseases | 
 
 " 21— 1 Fever Nursing and Temperature- > Dr. MacDonnell. 
 taking j 
 
 — 2 Obstetrical Nursing Dr. Cameron. • 
 
MONTEEAL UENKEAL HOSPITAL. 
 
 TEAINING SCHOOL FOE NUESES. 
 
 HOUSE RULES. 
 
 1. — The hour for rising is (5 a.m. Before 11 a.m. each nurse must make 
 hor bed, (hist and arrant^e her room, leavinj^ it in wood order, so that it 
 may be ready for inspection at any liour thereafter. 
 
 2.— At 10 P.M. the hglits will be extinguished in the Sitting Room and 
 Corridors. The lights in the Nurses' rooms must be out by 10.30 p.ji. 
 The gas must be turned down when the Nurse leaves her room, even for 
 the siiortest time. 
 
 3. — No visitors are to be invited to meals, or to spend the night on the 
 premises. The Sitting Room may be used for the reception of visitors. 
 A Nurse may invite none but ladies to her room. 
 
 4. — Nurses may use the laundry under the following conditions; 
 'I'welve pieces (not counting handkerchiefs), well marked, are allowed 
 each person per week. No laces, muslin, or trimmed white muslin skirts 
 will 1)6 received. Each must be provided with a clothes bag, marked, in 
 which soiled clothes are to be put, and placed in a basket for that purpose 
 at foot of stairway early Monday morning, witli c'othes list attached, 
 dated and signed by the owner. Unmarked dothini^ will be retained in 
 the laundry until a requisition for its return, signed by the Lady Super- 
 intendent, is presented. Clothing containing pins or needles will be 
 returned unlaundried. 
 
 5. — No Nurse is allowed to go to the laundry witliout special permission 
 from the Lady Superintendent. 
 
 fi. — When Nurses are relieved from duty on account of sickness, they 
 must not leave the hospital nor return to their duties without the direc- 
 tion of the Lady Superintendent. On returning to the hospital after -any 
 leave of absence, they must report to the Lady Superintendent for assign- 
 
86 
 
 ment to duty. Nurses are not permitted to receive calls in the wards of 
 the hospital from their friends or other Nurses- 
 
 7. — Any Nurse being ill must report herself at once to the Lady Super- 
 intendent ; she will not be allowed to consult any physician other than 
 the Medical Superintendent without her permission, nor to obtain 
 medicine from the hospital dispensary except on an order signed by the 
 Medical Superintendent or countersigned by the Lady Superintendent. 
 
 8.— On the entrance of an officer or stranger into the wards, Nurses 
 shall at once rise. All visitors must be given prompt attention. 
 
 9. — No book or article of furniture is to be removed from the Sitting 
 Room to any other part of the hospital. 
 
 10. — No talking or laughing in the halls or corridors. 
 
 11. — At the discretion of the Lady Superintendent, Nurses will be 
 allowed leave of absence one afternoon in each week ; and they shall also, 
 if the pressure of their duties and the condition of the weather permit, 
 spend an hour every day in the open air. They will also be excused from 
 duty a part of each Sunday. They will not be allowed to be absent later 
 than 10 p.M„ without permission from the Lady Superintendent. 
 
 12. — Nurses on duty in the fever wards are under the same rujps. 
 
 By Order of 
 
 Thh Committee of Manacjembnt. 
 
MONTEEAL GENERAL HOSPITAL. 
 TRAINING SCHOOL FOR NURSES. 
 
 FORM OF APPLICATION. 
 
 1 ■ Candidate's name in full and address 
 
 2. Are you a single woman or a widow ? 
 
 3 . Present occupation or employment 
 
 Note— Do not say " Living at home." 
 
 4. Place and date of birth 
 
 T). Height and weight 
 
 () . Where educated ? 
 
 7. Are you strong and liealthy, and have you always been so ?. 
 
 8 . Are your eyesight and heari ng peifect ? 
 
 9 . Do you ever wear glasses V If so, for what reason V 
 
 10. Have you any tendency to pulmonary complaints '.' 
 
 1 1 . Have you any physical defects '.' 
 
 12. If a widow, have you children V How many ? How old '.' How are 
 
 they provided for V 
 
 13. Where (if any) was your last situation ? How long were you in it '.' 
 
 14. Names in full and addresses 
 of two persons to be referred 
 to. State how long each has 
 known you. If previously 
 employed, one of the.se must 
 be the last employer. 
 
 Name 
 
 Address 
 
 Has known me years. 
 
 Name 
 
 Address 
 
 Has known me years. 
 
 15. Have you ever been in any Training School '.' If so, where V. . . 
 
 16. Have you read and do you clearly understand the regulations V . 
 
 I declare the above statement to be correct. 
 
 Date 
 
 Signed 
 
MONTEEAL GP]NRHAL HOSPITAL. 
 TRAINING SCHOOL FOR NIH^SES. 
 
 REGULATIONS. 
 
 The dates for orjjranization of new classes in the Traininfj; Soli.ool are 
 April an<i ()(!tober of oai'h year. 
 
 The duration of the course of instruction i.s two years. 
 
 This course i.s divided into three terms each of eiirht months duration. 
 
 Tlie Nurses in traininj: are divided into three classes, and serve as 
 .lunior Assistants, as Senior Assistants, and as Head Nurses. On lirst 
 onterin^ the School, tluw take the position of .lunior Assistants, and 
 attain the hijjjher grades of Senior Assistants and Head Nurscg by pro- 
 motion after successful examination. 
 
 Applicants must b(^ between twenty-live and thirty-live years of aj^e, 
 and possess a }:ood common school education. They mu.-t produce 
 certiiicates of jjood character and sound health, and must make tlieir 
 application to the Lady Superintendent of the Hospital. If admitted, 
 they must serve on probatiim for a term not exceedinjj; two months, 
 during which time tiiey will receive board and lodiring, l)ut no compen- 
 sation. When accepted, they must sitrii an a'.^reement to remain in the 
 School and sutiject thcimselves to the rules of (he Hospital, for the full 
 [Hjriod iif two years fmni the date of their entrance into the Schocjl, unless 
 failing of promotion, in which case they will be put back to the begin- 
 ning of the term for which they have failed to pass an examination. At 
 the end of each term of (*ight months, there will be an examination of all 
 the classes ; that of the senior and junior clas-^es bt>ing conducte<l l)y the 
 Lady Superintendent, and that of the bead nurses by an attending 
 physitnan and an attending surgeon. Succe.s8 in the two former examin- 
 ations entitles the Nurse to promotion to a higher grade, whilst an ex- 
 amination credita1)ly p'a.sseil at the end of two years, entitles the mir.-e 
 to a diploma under seal of the nosi)ital. 
 
 In all matters appertaining to the instruction of Nurses and to the 
 professional ailministratioii of the Training School, the Ijadj' Superin- 
 tendent as tlirectress of the School ex(\rcises the functions of ii(»r ollice 
 subject to the supervision and direction of tiie Medical Board of the 
 
39 
 
 Hospital ; with this reservation, tlie School is under her direct sujier- 
 vision and control, and her authority extends over all that pertains to 
 the duties and discipline of tlie Nurses in tlie wards, as well as to the 
 details of their instruction in the School. 
 
 In the case of misconduct or insubordination, the Lady HujKninteudent 
 may suspend members of the class from duty, and refer the case to the 
 Committee of Manaj^ement for final decision. 
 
 A monthly allowance will be made of six dollars to the junior Assist- 
 tants, of seven dollars to the Senior Assistants, anil of eight (hdlars to the 
 Head Nurses. Board, lodgiuj^ and washing' will he furnished without 
 charge. Tn sickness all pui)ils will receive gratuitous care, but all time 
 lost, m'ust be made up at the end of the term. 
 
 The instruction will be provided by the ^ledical Board of the 
 Hospital, the Directress of the School, and the Head Nurses in the 
 wards, and will consist of didacti(! lectures and practical instruction at 
 the bedside on the following subjects; — 
 
 1. Dressing of wounds. 
 
 2. Application of blisters, fomentations, poultices, cups and leeches. 
 
 3. Use of catheter and administration of enemata. 
 
 4. Methods of applying friction. 
 
 5. Bandaging and the making of rollers. 
 
 (i. Making beds, changing draw sheets and sheets ; moving ; preventing 
 bedsores. 
 Application of uterine api)liances. 
 
 In addition, practical instruction by competent teachers will be given on 
 the mode of preparing articles of diet for the sick. 
 
 Those desiring admission to the School should call in person or write 
 directly, (not thnmgh frieuds' to the Lady Superintendent of the Hospi- 
 tal, when the form of application will be furnished ; this when tilled out 
 and returned, aci'ompaniod by a physi(;iaus certilicate of snuml health, 
 on a printed form provided l»y the Hospital, constitutes a formal ap[)lica- 
 tion. 
 
 Applications uriv considered in view i>f the organization (if the next 
 class, never in view of a " vacancy." 
 
 Applicants having been notified of acceptance may declare themselves 
 ready to enter in advaiueof the organization of the class for which they 
 have been accepted, should the withdrawal of sumo mend)er of tlie school, 
 from sickness or other unavoidable cause, make possii)le the immediate 
 admission of another pupil, l^upils so admitted will begin their probu- 
 tionary term immetliately, and, if accepted after probation, become at 
 once regular meiubqrs,of^ thp school, though their time will date from the 
 
 • * : .' ; . . • '• ' • • •'■.'*. • • >* 
 
 • . . ! ! » ■ .... 4 • • . ... 
 
 •* *• -» ' • • • • • 
 
 • • • > • t 
 . • • k 
 
 ••. 
 
40 
 
 organization of the class for which their appHcations were originally ac- 
 cepted. 
 
 No uniform is worn by those on probation. 
 
 They should come provided with dresses which may be washed, a good 
 supply of plain underclothinjr, six regulation white aprons, and a bag for 
 soiled clothes, all garments to be distinctly marked with the owner's 
 name. They should not bring any outside garments they expect to use 
 on duty after admission to the School, as the School uniform often ren- 
 ders such articles useless. This uniform must be worn by all pupils when 
 on duty, and is obtained at the Hospital, at the pupil's expense. 
 
 Accepteti applicants must visit a dentist and procure a certificate tliat 
 their teeth are in a healthy condition before they can be received into the 
 School. 
 
 Inquirers who find they cannot comply with the conditions herein set 
 forth should not write further, as no exceptional cases can he considend. 
 
 All correspondence should be addressed. 
 
 THE LADY SUPERINTENDENT, 
 
 Montreal Genbbal Hosi'itai., 
 
 Montreal, P. Q,