OLIVE’S AMAZING LEGACY OF CARE
OLIVE SMITH: Queensland’s first blue nurse
WITH her nursing kit in one hand and a determination to hitch a ride to her patients any way she could manage it deep within her marrow, Olive Smith never realised she was about to revolutionise aged care in Queensland.
Mrs Smith, nee Crombie, passed away last month after living at Blue Care Elanora Pineshaven since 2013.
It was August 1953 and with only three weeks guaranteed wage in her pocket, Mrs Smith boarded a tram in Brisbane’s West End to see to her first patient as a Blue Nurse.
She’d received her training at Royal Brisbane Hospital and was undertaking further study to become a midwife at Epworth Hospital in Melbourne when she got a call from Reverend Arthur Preston who spoke with her about his vision for a home nursing service in Queensland.
A small medical kit, the addresses of two patients and unwavering determination were all she was equipped with in her first day on the job.
It turned out a knack for healing and a compassion for others weren’t all Mrs Smith needed. The one-woman army fundraised, recruited volunteers and even learnt to drive but her most important and beloved role remained tending to the patients.
She worked long hours, borrowed beaten up old cars and went by foot to be with them.
By the end of 1953, Blue Nursing had grown to a 24 hour, seven day a week service with two additional part time nurses.
The success of the Blue Nursing Service was never a surprise to Mrs Smith but she remained amazed by what it has grown into as Blue Care, an organisation with thousands of employees who care for more than 60,000 people across Queensland each year.
Personally, along with her late husband, Reverend Edward Smith, Olive established the charities Crossroads and Barnabas House, servicing people with disability, and both were recognised with Order of Australia Medals.
After retiring to the Gold Coast the couple continued to volunteer at both Crossroads and Barnabas House.
Mrs Smith is survived by her sons Phillip and Stephen.
She will be remembered as not just a nurse but a woman with an insurmountable faith whose own values of compassion, caring and dedication blazed a trail through a conservative model of care in 1950s Queensland to reach those most in need.
The hundreds of thousands of Queenslanders who have benefited from the personalised care and compassion of Blue Care for more than 60 years is a legacy that not even the compassionate, determined and spirited Mrs Smith could have imagined.