The year was 1894. Five earnest young women in stiffly starched white cotton aprons sat with pencils poised over notepads listening to the Medical Superintendent deliver the first lecture to the first class of candidates for the Coast Hospital Nursing Certificate. The Matron, Miss McMaster was seated nearby.
This marked the beginning of a three year course of lectures given by the Medical Superintendent and the Matron in subjects such as Anatomy and Physiology, General Nursing, Medical and Surgical Nursing, Hygiene, Infectious Diseases and Materia Medica. An invalid cookery course given by a qualified teacher was included.
Extract from Nurses at Little Bay, Maylean Cordia,
Prince Henry Trained Nurses Association 1995
Chapter 2: The Nurses Training School