60th anniversary of nursing class brings up history

The General Hospital School of Nursing and the Providence Hospital School of Nursing collectively trained 1,716 nurses while they were open. One class, who trained at the Regina College before coming to work in Moose Jaw, returned to the city this week to celebrate the 60th anniversary of their graduation. The class of September 1959 arrived on Aug. 20 from all over Canada, including as far as Calgary and B.C. They began their training with 29 classmates, and eleven made to the reunion this year. They enjoyed a week of catching up before meeting at the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery for a group photo in front of a new display of nursing memorabilia, some of which they themselves donated. The display features many interesting pieces, such as graduation pins from as far back as 1907 and a nursing student’s uniform from the1929 to 1940 era. A display case featuring dolls dressed in uniform show the evolution of nursing uniforms from 1906 to 1970. The cabinet was previously featured in the Moose Jaw Union Hospital until it’s closure in 2015. Now, it makes its home in the MJMAG.

These former nurses took four months of training in the Centralized Lecture Program at the Regina College, which was introduced in 1953, and also worked their training shifts at the same time — which paid $6 per month in the first year of the program, $8 per month in the second, and $10 per month in the third. This particular class of nurses have kept in touch, reuniting for reunions very regularly over the years following their graduation. They were present at the cabinet’s unveiling in 1997, and are pleased to see it once again displayed as a part of Moose Jaw’s history.