Nurses at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow
When Mrs Louisa Harbin was appointed Lady Superintendent at the new Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow she was immediately put in charge of recruiting and training a staff of nurses. Her initial proposals put before the Managers in 1882 were that they should install 'the usual arrangements for Nursing in a Sick Children's Hospital'. Being one of the last major sick children's hospitals to open, by 1882 there was a considerable volume of experience around the country for the Glasgow hospital to draw on. Mrs Harbin herself had worked for several years at Great Ormond Street, and Edinburgh Children's Hospital, the Glasgow hospital's nearest rival, had been open for over twenty years.
In preparation for the hospital opening Mrs Harbin recommended that at least six trained nurses (three to be ladies) should be appointed and that they were to receive £20 per annum. The first hospital ledger records the names and salaries of two sisters, five nurses and three probationers recruited between August and December 1882, before the hospital opened for patients. Mrs Harbin kept a register of her nurses, including probationers and lady pupils, and in addition to the information about age, religion, previous training, and record of employment at RHSC, she wrote brief comments about each nurse's subsequent careers. These registers continued, although in a different format, up to the 1950s.
In the first annual report, the Hospital Directors proudly stated that:
"the sisters, nurses, probationers, and pupils are all ladies. Experience has shown that educated gentlewomen are more conscientious in the fulfilment of their duty, not only in attending to the wants of their little charges, but in distilling good manners, gentleness, and better moral principles than their home-teaching has afforded."
Nursing staff were provided with uniforms 'and a reasonable quantity of washing [was] allowed'. However, probationers while on trial of a month or longer, had to provide their own dresses and aprons: only when deemed suitable to enter as official probationers was an indoor uniform supplied.
The different uniforms are described in Glimpses of Old Glasgow: Our Infirmaries by Andrew Aird, 1894.
- Sisters wore a navy blue galatea dress, white linen apron and a cambric cap;
- Nurses wore a blue and white check dress, white linen apron, and a cambric and lace cap;
- Probationers wore a black and white check dress, white linen apron, and a cambric cap, with frill.
One of aims of the hospital was 'to educate and train women in the special duties of Children's Nurses, and to instruct lady pupils in the care of Sick Children.' Mrs Harbin instituted a practical and theoretical training scheme for nurses in 1883. This consisted of practical training on the wards, supervised by the sisters, and lectures delivered by the medical staff (probably delivered in off-duty time). Initially, probationers did two years training and were paid £12 in their first year, rising to £18 in the second year of training. By 1890 the training was increased to three years, the first year being unpaid, and the minimum age limit was increased from eighteen to twenty-one. On completion of the training, on passing the exams, successful candidates received a certificate of qualification.
The photo shows a group of nurses in one of the wards of the RGSCH Garnethill c1895.
The training scheme was always hugely oversubscribed, with applications received from all over Britain. Until 1914 between six to ten probationers were admitted each year. For instance, in 1904 there were 198 applicants of whom nine were admitted. By the 1920s, at the new, larger hospital at Yorkhill, the number of recruits increased to about fifty a year.
The hospital also took lady pupils who paid for their training, the fee being £12.10 shillings per quarter (£50 per annum). They could stay for just three months or commit to the full year, after which they were considered fully trained - equivalent to the three year training period for regular probationers. From 1883 to 1920, sixty- five lady pupils have been identified from the hospital records, forty-one stayed for the basic three months, while ten completed a full year's training.
In common with other hospitals, the hours on duty were long, and many probationers and lady pupils left because they were not strong enough to carry out the work. There are printed duties for all members of staff, and these were amended periodically. For example, in 1891 nurses' hours on duty were restricted to no more than twelve per day (except in emergency situations), and they worked at least 6.5 days a week (equivalent to a 78 hour week). The nurses got time off to go to church on Sunday and had four weeks holiday per year. In 1919 the working week was reduced to 56 hours, necessitating an increase in staff.
Benefactors gave gifts for nurses, including books, fruit, flowers, theatre and pantomime tickets, and summer drives in the country. There was also time for romance (although presumably such activity was strongly discouraged) and several nurses left to be married, including nurse May Turnbull who married Dr Robert H Parry
In the wards, the nurses followed the instructions of the visiting medical and surgical staff, and resident house surgeon and physician, in their treatment of the patients. In addition to nursing duties, they were expected to play with and read to the children. They also helped with children's prayers, carried out domestic duties such as polishing brass bed plaques and did some cleaning, but the hospital did have laundry maids, charwomen to polish the floors twice a fortnight, and a cook.
The Matron and nurses lived in the hospital. While Matron had a sitting room and bedroom, the nurses were originally accommodated in the attic in cramped quarters - two rooms had three beds in each of them. The Matron and the directors were fully aware of the problem but were hampered by lack of space and money to do much to improve conditions. Due to pressure from Matron the house next door was bought in 1887 and part of it was adapted to provide seven bedrooms. However, a few years later, there was a problem with the foul smells emanating from the stables of the Veterinary College next door! Even with this further space conditions were still cramped, particularly for bathrooms and until 1893 the house surgeons and nurses had to use the same faciltities. A dining hall was created out of part of the old Carlile ward in 1893 and a nurses' home was added to the Dispensary in 1897, which improved conditions.
In 1905 Dr Kennedy Dalziel, in calling for a new hospital stated that:
"there must be sufficient accommodation for a nursing staff to enable a large number of very young children to be treated, and this accommodation should be separate from the main building containing the patients, so that the nurses and servants would not live practically in the atmosphere of the wards day and night as at present."
However, it was only when the hospital moved to Yorkhill in 1914 that the hospital had an adequate nurses' home providing single bedrooms, a dining hall, lounge with a piano bought by a benefactor, a writing room, a conservatory linking the home to the hospital, open space for recreation and tennis courts.
When Mrs Louisa Harbin was appointed Lady Superintendent at the new Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow she was immediately put in charge of recruiting and training a staff of nurses. Her initial proposals put before the Managers in 1882 were that they should install 'the usual arrangements for Nursing in a Sick Children's Hospital'. Being one of the last major sick children's hospitals to open, by 1882 there was a considerable volume of experience around the country for the Glasgow hospital to draw on. Mrs Harbin herself had worked for several years at Great Ormond Street, and Edinburgh Children's Hospital, the Glasgow hospital's nearest rival, had been open for over twenty years.
In preparation for the hospital opening Mrs Harbin recommended that at least six trained nurses (three to be ladies) should be appointed and that they were to receive £20 per annum. The first hospital ledger records the names and salaries of two sisters, five nurses and three probationers recruited between August and December 1882, before the hospital opened for patients. Mrs Harbin kept a register of her nurses, including probationers and lady pupils, and in addition to the information about age, religion, previous training, and record of employment at RHSC, she wrote brief comments about each nurse's subsequent careers. These registers continued, although in a different format, up to the 1950s.
In the first annual report, the Hospital Directors proudly stated that:
'the sisters, nurses, probationers, and pupils are all ladies. Experience has shown that educated gentlewomen are more conscientious in the fulfilment of their duty, not only in attending to the wants of their little charges, but in distilling good manners, gentleness, and better moral principles than their home-teaching has afforded.'
Nursing staff were provided with uniforms 'and a reasonable quantity of washing [was] allowed'. However, probationers while on trial of a month or longer, had to provide their own dresses and aprons: only when deemed suitable to enter as official probationers was an indoor uniform supplied.
The different uniforms are described in Glimpses of Old Glasgow: Our Infirmaries by Andrew Aird, 1894.
-
Sisters wore a navy blue galatea dress, white linen apron and a cambric cap;
-
Nurses wore a blue and white check dress, white linen apron, and a cambric and lace cap;
-
Probationers wore a black and white check dress, white linen apron, and a cambric cap, with frill.
One of aims of the hospital was 'to educate and train women in the special duties of Children's Nurses, and to instruct lady pupils in the care of Sick Children.' Mrs Harbin instituted a practical and theoretical training scheme for nurses in 1883. This consisted of practical training on the wards, supervised by the sisters, and lectures delivered by the medical staff (probably delivered in off-duty time). Initially, probationers did two years training and were paid £12 in their first year, rising to £18 in the second year of training. By 1890 the training was increased to three years, the first year being unpaid, and the minimum age limit was increased from eighteen to twenty-one. On completion of the training, on passing the exams, successful candidates received a certificate of qualification.
The training scheme was always hugely oversubscribed, with applications received from all over Britain. Until 1914 between six to ten probationers were admitted each year. For instance, in 1904 there were 198 applicants of whom nine were admitted. By the 1920s, at the new, larger hospital at Yorkhill, the number of recruits increased to about fifty a year.
The hospital also took lady pupils who paid for their training, the fee being £12.10 shilings per quarter (£50 per annum). They could stay for just three months or commit to the full year, after which they were considered fully trained - equivalent to the three year training period for regular probationers. From 1883 to 1920, sixty- five lady pupils have been identified from the hospital records, forty-one stayed for the basic three months, while ten completed a full year's training.
In common with other hospitals, the hours on duty were long, and many probationers and lady pupils left because they were not strong enough to carry out the work. There are printed duties for all members of staff, and these were amended periodically. For example, in 1891 nurses' hours on duty were restricted to no more than twelve per day (except in emergency situations), and they worked at least 6.5 days a week (equivalent to a 78 hour week). The nurses got time off to go to church on Sunday and had four weeks holiday per year. In 1919 the working week was reduced to 56 hours, necessitating an increase in staff.
Benefactors did gave gifts for nurses, including books, fruit, flowers, theatre and pantomime tickets, and summer drives in the country. There was also time for romance (although presumably such activity was strongly discouraged) and several nurses left to be married, including nurse May Turnbull who married Dr Robert H Parry.
In the wards, the nurses followed the instructions of the visiting medical and surgical staff, and resident house surgeon and physician, in their treatment of the patients. In addition to nursing duties, they were expected to play with and read to the children. They also helped with chidlren's prayers, carried out domestic duties such as polishing brass bed plaques and did some cleaning, but the hospital did have laundry maids, charwomen to polish the floors twice a fortnight, and a cook.
The Matron and nurses lived in the hospital. While Matron had a sitting room and bedroom, the nurses were originally accommodated in the attic in cramped quarters - two rooms had three beds in each of them. The Matron and the directors were fully aware of the problem but were hampered by lack of space and money to do much to improve conditions. Due to pressure from Matron the house next door was bought in 1887 and part of it was adapted to provide seven bedrooms. However, a few years later, there was a problem with the foul smells emanating from the stables of the Veterinary College next door! Even with this further space conditions were still cramped, particularly for bathrooms and until 1893 the house surgeons and nurses had to use the same faciltities. A dining hall was created out of part of the old Carlile ward in 1893 and a nurses' home was added to the Dispensary in 1897, which improved conditions.
In 1905 Dr Kennedy Dalziel, in calling for a new hospital stated that:
'there must be sufficient accommodation for a nursing staff to enable a large number of very young children to be treated, and this accommodation should be separate from the main building containing the patients, so that the nurses and servants would not live practically in the atmosphere of the wards day and night as at present.'
However, it was only when the hospital moved to Yorkhill in 1914 that the hospital had an adequate nurses' home providing single bedrooms, a dining hall, lounge with a piano bought by a benefactor, a writing room, a conservatory linking the home to the hospital, open space for recreation and tennis courts.
